Brocade Communications Systems VDX 6720-24, VDX 6720-60 Quick Start Manual

53-1002085-03
5 August 2013

Brocade VDX 6720

QuickStart Guide

Supporting the VDX 6720-24 and VDX 6720-60

®

53-1002085-03

*53-1002085-03*

Copyright © 2010-2013 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names mentioned may be trademarks of their
respective owners.

Notice: This document is for informational purposes only and does not set forth any warranty, expressed or implied, concerning any equipment,
equipment feature, or service offered or to be offered by Brocade. Brocade reserves the right to make changes to this document at any time,
without notice, and assumes no responsibility for its use. This informational document describes features that may not be currently available.
Contact a Brocade sales office for information on feature and product availability. Export of technical data contained in this document may
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Brocade Communications Systems, Incorporated

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Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
130 Holger Way
San Jose, CA 95134
Tel: [phone]
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E-mail: [e-mail]

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Document History

The following table lists all published versions of the Brocade VDX 6720 QuickStart Guide.

Title Publication number Summary of changes Date

Brocade VDX 6720 QuickStart Guide 53-1002085-01 New document December 2010

Brocade VDX 6720 QuickStart Guide 53-1002085-02 Removed reference to

Family Doc CD

Brocade VDX 6720 QuickStart Guide 53-1002085-03 Added USB device to Items

Included. Removed
connection to 10/100
Mbps.

December 2011

August 2013

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Overview

NOTE

This Quick Start guide is intended as an overview to help experienced installers unpack, install, and configure the
Brocade VDX 6720 quickly. For more detailed installation and configuration instructions, see the Brocade Network
OS Administrator’s Guide and the Brocade Network OS Command Reference Manual.

Throughout this document, the Brocade VDX 6720 is referred to as the switch.

Items included with the Brocade VDX 6720

The following items are included with the standard shipment of a fully-configured Brocade VDX 6720. When you
open the Brocade VDX 6720 packaging, verify that the items are included in the package and that no damage has
occurred during shipping:

• The Brocade VDX 6720 switch, either the 24-port or 60-port version

• One accessory kit, containing the following items:

- Serial cable with an RJ45 connector

- 6 ft. power cords (2)

- Rubber feet, required for setting up the switch as a standalone unit

- Brocade 2 GB USB memory device

- Brocade VDX 6720 QuickStart Guide (this publication)

Installation and safety considerations

You can install a Brocade VDX 6720 switch in the following ways:

• As a standalone unit on a flat surface.

• In an EIA cabinet using a fixed-rail rack mount kit. The optional fixed-rail rack mount kit can be ordered from

your switch retailer. Both the 24”-32” rack depth kit and the 28”-29” rack depth kit will work with the VDX
6720 switches.

• In an EIA cabinet using an optional flush-mount rack kit for switches. The optional flush-mount rack kit for

switches can be ordered from your switch retailer.

• Mounting a VDX6720 in the Idataplex IBM 17” depth rack requires an Idataplex rack mount kit, Brocade

part number 60-1001519-01.

Electrical considerations

To install and operate the switch successfully, ensure compliance with the following requirements:

• The primary outlet is correctly wired, protected by a circuit breaker, and grounded in accordance with local

electrical codes.

• The supply circuit, line fusing, and wire size are adequate, as specified by the electrical rating on the switch

nameplate.

• The power supply standards are met. Refer to Table 1 for more information.

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.

TABLE 1 Power Supply Specifications

Specification Value

Maximum output 250 watts, 4 amps, 12 VDC - VDX 6720-24

500 watts, 7 amps, 12 VDC - VDX 6720-60

Maximum AC power consumption 146.2 W - VDX 6720-24

360 W - VDX 6720-60

System DC power consumption (excluding power supply
and fan FRUs)

Input system power (including power supply and fan
FRUs)

Input voltage 85-264 VAC

Input line frequency 47-63 Hz

BTU rating 1044.11 BTU/hr

Inrush current Maximum of 50A

Input line protection AC lines are fused

Idle: 182.4 W
Maximum: 306 W

Idle: 206 W
Maximum: 306 W

Environmental considerations

For successful installation and operation of the switch, ensure that the following environmental requirements are
met:

• Because the Brocade VDX 6720 switches can be ordered with fans that move air either front to back or back to

front, be sure to orient your switch with the airflow pattern of any other devices in the rack. All equipment in the
rack should force air in the same direction to avoid intake of exhaust air.

• A maximum of 102 cubic meters/hour (60 cubic feet/minute) and a minimum of 74.8 cubic meters/hour

(44 cubic feet/minute) of air flow is available to the air intake vents.

• The ambient air temperature does not exceed 40° C (104° F) while the switch is operating.

Rack considerations

For successful installation and operation of the switch in a rack, ensure the following rack requirements are met:

• The rack must be a standard EIA rack.

• The rack space required is one or two rack units high depending on the switch ordered (1U for the Brocade VDX

6720-24 or 2U for the Brocade VDX 6720-60); 4.3 cm (1.7 in.) or 8.90 cm (3.50 in.) high and 42.9 cm (16.9 in.)
wide.

• The equipment in the rack is grounded through a reliable branch circuit connection and maintains ground at all

times. Do not rely on a secondary connection to a branch circuit, such as a power strip.

• Airflow and temperature requirements are met on an ongoing basis, particularly if the switch is installed in a

closed or multirack assembly.

• The additional weight of the switch does not exceed the rack’s weight limits or unbalance the rack in any way.

• The rack is secured to ensure stability in case of unexpected movement, such as an earthquake.

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Recommendations for cable management

NOTE

The minimum radius to which a 50 micron cable can be bent under full tensile load is 5.1 cm (2 in.). For a cable
under no tensile load, that minimum is 3.0 cm (1.2 in.).

Cables can be organized and managed in a variety of ways; for example, use cable channels on the sides of the
cabinet or patch panels to reduce the potential for tangling the cables. The following list provides some
recommendations for cable management:

You should not use tie wraps with optical cables because they are easily overtightened and can damage the optic
fibers. Velcro-like wraps are recommended.

• Plan for the rack space required for cable management before installing the switch.

• Leave at least 1 m (3.28 ft) of slack for each port cable. This provides room to remove and replace the switch,

allows for inadvertent movement of the rack, and helps prevent the cables from being bent to less than the
minimum bend radius.

• For easier maintenance, label the cables and record the devices to which they are connected.

• Keep LEDs visible by routing port cables and other cables away from the LEDs.

Items required for installation

The following items are required for installing, configuring, and connecting the Brocade VDX 6720 switches for use
in a network and fabric:

• A workstation with an installed terminal emulator, such as HyperTerminal.

• An unused IP address and corresponding subnet mask and gateway address.

• A serial cable (provided).

• An Ethernet cable.

• Brocade-branded SFP (1 GbE) or SFP+ (10 GbE) transceivers and compatible cables or direct-attach copper and

optical cables.

• (Optional) Access to an FTP server or Brocade-branded USB device for backing up the switch configuration.

• If mounting in the iDataplex IBM 15.5-inch depth rack, the Brocade iDataplex rack mount kit.

Standalone installation for a Brocade VDX 6720

Complete the following steps to install the Brocade VDX 6720 as a standalone unit.

1. Unpack the Brocade VDX 6720 switch and verify the items listed in “Items included with the Brocade VDX 6720”
on page 3 are present and undamaged.

2. Apply the adhesive rubber feet. Applying the rubber feet to the switch helps prevent the switch from sliding off
the supporting surface.

a. Clean the indentations at each corner of the bottom of the switch to ensure that they are free of dust or

other debris that might lessen the adhesion of the feet.

b. With the adhesive side against the chassis, place one rubber foot in each indentation and press into place.

3. Place the switch on a flat, sturdy surface.

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4. Provide power to the switch as described in “Providing power to the switch” on page 6.

ATTENTION

ATTENTION

Do not connect the switch to the network until the IP address is correctly set. For instructions on how to set the IP
address, see “Setting the switch IP address” on page 8.

Rack installation for a Brocade VDX 6720

Follow the installation instructions shipped with the appropriate rack mount kit:

• To install the switch into a 4-post fixed-rail rack, refer to the Fixed Rack Mount Kit (24”-32”) Installation

Procedure or the Fixed Rack Mount Kit Installation Procedure.

• To install the switch into a 2-post Telco rack, refer to the Flush Mount Rack Mount Kit Installation Procedure.

Providing power to the switch

Perform the following steps to provide power to the Brocade VDX 6720.

1. Connect the power cords to both power supplies, and then to power sources on separate circuits to protect
against failure. Ensure that the power cords have a minimum service loop of 15.2 cm (6 in.) available and are
routed to avoid stress.

2. Power on the Brocade VDX 6720-24 by turning both on/off switches to "I." The Brocade VDX 6720-60 powers up
automatically when plugged in. The power supply LEDs display amber until POST is complete, and then change
to green. The switch usually requires several minutes to boot and complete POST.

Power is supplied to the switch as soon as the first power supply is connected and powered on.

3. After POST is complete, verify that the switch power and status LEDs on the left of the port side of the switch are
green.

Verifying operation

After you have powered the system on and POST is complete, verify that the switch is working properly.

1. Verify that the power supply LEDs are solid green.

2. Verify that the system status LED is solid green.

3. The port LEDs should be lit during POST activities. When POST is complete, only the LEDs for ports connected to
other devices should be green.

Refer to the Brocade VDX 6720 Hardware Reference Manual for more details on the LED patterns.

Creating a serial connection

You perform all configuration tasks in this guide using a serial connection from a workstation or terminal to the
switch.

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Complete the following steps to create a serial connection to the switch.

NOTE

1. Connect the serial cable to the serial port on the switch and to an RS-232 serial port on the workstation or

terminal device.

If the serial port on the workstation or terminal device is RJ45 instead of RS-232, remove the adapter on the
end of the serial cable and insert the exposed RJ45 connector into the RJ45 serial port on the workstation.

2. Open a terminal emulator application (such as HyperTerminal on a PC, or TERM, TIP, or Kermit in a UNIX

environment), and configure the application as follows:

• In a Windows environment, enter the following values: 9600 bits per second, 8 databits, no parity, 1 stop

bit, and no flow control.

• In a UNIX environment using TIP, enter the following string at the prompt:

tip /dev/ttyb -9600

If ttyb is already in use, use ttya instead.

The serial port is located on the port side of the Brocade VDX 6720. The switch uses an RJ-45 connector for the
serial port. An RJ-45 to DB9 adaptor is also provided with the Brocade VDX 6720. The cable supplied with the

switch is a rollover cable.

To protect the serial port from damage, keep the cover on the port when not in use.

The serial port can be used to connect to a workstation to configure the Brocade VDX 6720 IP address before
connecting the switch to a fabric or IP network. The serial port’s parameters are fixed at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, and
no parity, with flow control set to None.

Tab le 2 lists the serial cable pinouts.

TABLE 2 Serial cable pinouts

PIN Signal Description

1Not supported NA

2Not supported NA

3TXD Transmit data

4 GND Logic ground

5Not supported NA

6RXD Receive data

7Not supported NA

8Not supported NA

Assigning permanent passwords

When you log in for the first time, Brocade recommends that you change the passwords for the default accounts.

The factory-configured default accounts on the switch are admin, user, and root. Use the default administrative
account as shown in Tab le 3 to log in to the switch for the first time and to perform the basic configuration tasks.

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The root account is reserved for development and manufacturing. The user account is read-only and used primarily
for system monitoring.

TABLE 3 Default administrative account names and passwords

Account type Login name Password

Administrative admin password

User account (read-only) user password

Changing the default account passwords

When you change the default account password after you log in for the first time, only the default password rule is in
effect. The rule specifies a minimum password length of eight characters. For advanced user and role management,
including setting password rules, refer to the Security chapter of the Brocade Network OS Administrator’s Guide.

1. Enter the configure terminal command to enter global configuration mode.

2. Enter the username command followed by the account name and the password parameter.

3. When prompted, enter the new password. and press Enter.

Switch# configure terminal
Entering configuration mode terminal
switch(config)# username admin password
(<WORD>;;User password satisfying password-attributes):********

Setting the switch IP address

You can configure the Brocade VDX 6720 with a static IP address, or you can use a DHCP (Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol) server to set the IP address of the switch. DHCP is enabled by default. The Brocade VDX
6720 supports both IPv4 and IPv6 format addresses. For information about setting static IP addresses and
stateless IPv6 addresses, please see the Brocade Network OS Administrator’s Guide.

Using DHCP to set the IP address

When using DHCP, the Brocade VDX 6720 obtains its IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway address from
the DHCP server. The DHCP client can only connect to a DHCP server that is on the same subnet as the switch. If
your DHCP server is not on the same subnet as the Brocade VDX 6720, use a static IP address. For information on
how to set the IP address using a static IP address, please refer to the Brocade VDX 6720 Hardware Reference
Manual.

To set an IPv4 IP address using DHCP, complete the following steps.

1. Log in to the switch using the admin account.

2. Configure the management interface with the following command:

switch(config)# interface Management 1/0

3. Configure the IP address using the following command:

switch(config-Management-1/0)# ip address dhcp

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Enabling and disabling Brocade VCS mode

Enable or disable a single switch for VCS™ mode as soon as passwords have been assigned and an IP address has
been set. Enabling VCS mode is disruptive since a reboot is required once the mode has been enabled. Enabling or
disabling VCS mode also causes the default configuration file for that mode to be applied.

The basic configuration tasks include enabling or disabling VCS mode explicitly, setting VCS parameters, and
applying the default configuration. If you disable VCS mode, you do not have to set the other parameters. For more
details about enabling VCS mode and setting VCS parameters, please see the Brocade Network OS Administrator’s
Guide and the Brocade Network OS Command Reference Guide.

Enabling VCS mode

Perform the following steps to enable VCS mode.

1. Log in to the switch using an account that has the admin role.

2. Enter the vcs enable command, including the RBridge parameter, as in the following example.

vcs rbridge-id 1 enable

The switch reboots when you confirm that you want to enable VCS mode.

When the switch comes back up, if it is connected to other VCS-enabled switches, the negotiation protocols
begin, determining which switch in the fabric is the principal switch and making sure that all domain IDs, and
therefore RBridge IDs, are unique. Should the insistent domain ID not be unique, you can change it. Once the
domain IDs are determined to be unique, they are equated to the RBridge IDs.

The switch with the lowest World Wide Name (WWN) becomes the principal switch, primarily for purposes of
determining the uniqueness of the ID of the other switches in the fabric. The WWN is a unique identifier burned
into the switch at the factory.

Another parameter that can be changed if necessary is the VCS ID. This identifies the VCS fabric of which the
switch can be a part. By default, the VCS ID of every Brocade Brocade VDX 6720 is 1. Change the VCS ID if you
need to create a new, separate VCS fabric.

3. If you need to change the VCS ID, enter the vcs vcs-id x command, where x is the new VCS ID number.

4. Enter the copy running-config startup-config command to apply the current running configuration to the startup

configuration. This is important to capture any changes that have been made to the running configuration so
that they will persist the next time the switch reboots in the same mode.

5. Reboot the switch.

When the switch comes back up it will be enabled in VCS mode.

Disabling VCS mode

Perform the following steps to disable VCS mode.

1. Log in to the switch using an account that has the admin role.

2. Enter the no vcs enable command.

3. Reboot the switch.

4. When the switch comes back up, enter the copy running-config startup-config command to apply the default

configuration to the startup configuration.

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This is important to capture any changes that have been made to the running configuration so that they will

NOTE

persist the next time the switch reboots in the same mode.

Configuring switch ports

By default, the interfaces are not configured as switch ports. In order to put an interface in Layer 2 mode, use the
following command in Interface Configuration mode.

switch(conf-if-te-1/0/3)#switchport

To remove an interface from Layer 2 mode, use the following command

switch(conf-if-te-1/0/3)#no switchport

Connecting network devices

The Brocade VDX 6720 supports only Brocade-branded SFP+ optical or copper transceivers. For its GbE
connections, the Brocade VDX 6720 uses SFP+ transceivers that support either optical or Brocade-branded
direct-attach copper and optical (Laserwire) cables.

The optical SFP+ transceivers support both Short Reach (SR) and Long Reach (LR) modules. Direct-attach copper
cables support distances of 1 meter, 3 meters, and 5 meters. Direct-attach optical cables support distances of 10
meters and 20 meters.

Non-branded active twinax cables can be used, but Brocade does not support them.

Installing and connecting an SFP+ transceiver

Complete the following steps to install an SFP+ transceiver.

1. Remove any protector plugs from the transceivers and the ports.

2. Making sure that the bail (wire handle) is in the unlocked position, place the SFP+ transceiver in the correctly
oriented position on the port, as shown in Figure 1.

3. Slide the SFP+ transceiver into the port until you feel it click into place; then close the bail.

Each SFP+ transceiver has a 10-pad gold-plated edge connector on the bottom. The correct position to insert an
SFP+ transceiver in the upper row of ports is with the gold-plated edge down. The correct position to insert an SFP+
transceiver in the lower row of ports is with the gold-plated edge up.

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FIGURE 1 Installing an SFP+ transceiver in the upper row of port slots

!

!

4. If this is not a direct-connect unit, remove the protective caps from the cable end and position the cable so that

it is correctly oriented to the transceiver.

5. Insert the cable into the transceiver (Figure 2) until it is firmly seated and the latching mechanism clicks.

FIGURE 2 Inserting a cable into an SFP+

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Connecting to Ethernet or fast Ethernet hubs

NOTE

For copper connections to Ethernet hubs, a 1000Base-T switch, or another Brocade device, a crossover cable is
required. If the hub is equipped with an uplink port, it requires a straight-through cable instead of a crossover cable.

The 802.3ab standard (automatic MDI or MDIX detection) calls for automatic negotiation of the connection between
two 1000Base-T ports. Therefore, a crossover cable may not be required; a straight-through cable may work as well.

Connecting to workstations, servers, or routers

Straight-through UTP cabling is required for direct UTP attachment to workstations, servers, or routers using network
interface cards (NICs).

Fiber cabling is required for direct attachment to Gigabit NICs or switches and routers through fiber ports.

Connecting a network device to a fiber port

For direct attachment from the Brocade device to a Gigabit NIC, switch, or router, fiber cabling with an LC connector
is required. See “Installing and connecting an SFP+ transceiver” on page 10 for details about installing transceivers
and cables.

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