Categories: braindump

UniFi Switch 16 XG initial bringup

Table of Contents

I bough a UniFi Switch 16 XG, Board Revision 13 (UniFi Software reports 13, while in the pic below I see 11, odd).

These are my notes on initial bringup.

picture of my US-16-XG

Tie Into Existing Infrastructure

  1. plug into existing 48 port switch
  2. set that port on 48 port switch to mgmt
  3. assign fixed IP via ER-6P playbook EdgeRouter-6P-dhcp-fixed-assignments.yml
  4. switch shows up on unifi-controller
  5. update firmware from 3.9.54.9373 to 4.0.80.10875
  6. test ssh to switch as ubnt /ubnt, success
  7. adopt using DNS method
  8. set Management VLAN to mgmt
  9. 1st try at adoption failed, 2nd one worked, so figure. Guess because I had only just set the CNAME
  10. set port on 48 port switch to profile all
  11. test ssh to switch, verifying ubnt / ubnt no longer works and expected ssh credentials work
  12. added to checkmk by cloning an existing UniFi switch (simply to copy SNMP credentials)

Note About ssh Public Key

Like the EdgeRouter, the public key seems to need to:

  • have a comment
  • not have any spaces in the comment
  • be on a line of it’s own when pasted in the unifi-controller webUI, no trailing newline

Noise Level

The noise level is sadly unacceptably high when compared to the other UniFi switches I own. Those are;

  • UniFi Switch 48, Board Revision 3
  • UniFi Switch 24, Board Revision 6
  • UniFi Switch 8 POE-150W, Board Revision 15

It seems others agree, see the following Ubiquiti Community thread US-16-XG fan noise

Lower the Noise Level

I added 2 Noctua Low-Noise Adaptor NA-RC12 I had on the shelf. Still not silent but definitely better.

after fitting LNA

After the mod, with only one copper port used in 1'000 FDX mode, I get

  • Temperature 45℃
  • Fan Level 51

With 3 copper ports used in 10'000 FDX mode and 2 SFP+ used in 10'000 FDX mode, containing a DAC, I get

  • Temperature 59℃
  • Fan Level 68

a couple hours later;

  • Temperature 58℃
  • Fan Level 67

Below 60°C is like most of my other (unmodified) UniFi switches. Except the UniFi Switch 24 which reports 62°C yet the firmware switched the fan off. So I assume the US-16-XG will be fine for now.

A Better Fix Would Be

I will defer plugging in my fs.com SFP+ 10G copper modules, because they ran quite hot (IIRC above 65 but below 75) in the unmodified UniFi Switch 48, until I manage to obtain a 3D print of this 40mm to 30mm shroud on thingieverse.

I plan to combine those shrouds with 2 x Noctua NF-A4x20 FLX. See this post for details.

Upon close inspection of the original fans, I finally saw the embossed arrows. The original fans blow air out.

Initial Port Configuration

Until I have boughgt more F5-422, there is no need yet to use my existing fs.com SFP+ 10G copper modules.

port - profile description
SFP+ 1
SFP+ 2
SFP+ 3
SFP+ 4
SFP+ 6
SFP+ 7
SFP+ 8
SFP+ 9
SFP+ 10
SFP+ 11
SFP+ 12
Port 13 Ceph cluster_network F5-422-01
Port 14 access epyc eno1
Port 15 server epyc eno2
Port 16 all uplink sw-arbeitszimmer port 29

Current Port Configuration

I bought this switch because I plan to buy more Ceph hardware. So after initial setup, I rewired it as follows.

SFP+ 3 and 4 were equipped with UF-RJ45-10G modules from this range. Sadly those do not report temperature levels in the UniFi Network Controller view.

port - profile description
SFP+ 1 all DAC to 48 port switch
SFP+ 2 all DAC to 48 port switch, aggregating port 1
SFP+ 3 access epyc eno1
SFP+ 4 server epyc eno2
SFP+ 5
SFP+ 6
SFP+ 7
SFP+ 8
SFP+ 9
SFP+ 10
SFP+ 11
SFP+ 12
Port 13 Ceph cluster_network F5-422-01
Port 14 Ceph cluster_network F5-422-02
Port 15 Ceph cluster_network F5-422-03
Port 16 Ceph cluster_network F5-422-04

Sadly the UniFi copper modules do not show temperature.

Enable Jumbo Frames

To enable jumbo frames in Unifi, you pick a switch, properties, configuration, services and turn on the checkbox “enable jumbo frame”. You need to do this on all the switches in the path between the two devices. […] you need to reboot the switches too. source

Suboptimal Quality Control

I was a tad surprised that Ubiquiti’s Quality Control did not catch this creatively placed spool

viewed from the back

back view of skewed component

viewed from the side side view of skewed component

Not that it hurts the functionality of the switch, but I was expecting flush mounted components. Ah well…

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