Network Management

I wonder if anyone has an idea of why I seem to be unable to connect two Aruba 2540 switches (SwitchA & SwitchB) together via their SFP+ ports over a fibre connection between two rooms (RoomA & RoomB). SwitchA is a JL357A and SwitchB is a JL354A.

Each of the switches has J9150D SFP+ transceiver installed. The command "show tech transceivers" shows that both switches detect the transceiver correctly. The patch cables are 50cm OM3/4 (aqua colour) which are compatible with the fibre between the two rooms. However...

When I connect SwitchA to the fibre connection in RoomA and SwitchB to the fibre connection in RoomB, the connected SFP+ ports on both switches remain in a "Down" state.

So I took SwitchB into RoomA and directly connected the two switches together via the same SFP+ ports (with the same patch cable and transceivers). Both ports came 'up' on both switches (and they could "see" each other) so I'm presuming that the transceivers and patch cables are all good.

The fibre connection between the two rooms was tested when it was installed a few weeks ago and there didn't seem to be any issues with it and the fibre is a maximum of 25 metres in length between the two fibre patch panels/drawers in each room.

Is there something I need to do on the 2540 switches to allow them connect to each other over the fibre connection between the two rooms?

Thanks for any advice...

OM3 should do 300m for 10Gbps. If the link comes up on a patch cable, but not on patch+interconnect+patch, it could be the other patch cable, the interconnect or the connectors in your patch panel. In theory, it could also be that your fibers are swapped on the interconnect, so the sending and receiving fiber are swapped. I assume the installer who tested the interconnect checked that as well? They may have the equipment to test the full path including the patch cables, including the patches. As a 'poor man' solution, you may use a flashlight or laser pen to put light on one of the fibers, and see if it comes out at the other side. Light that goes in on the left fiber, should come out the right on the other side.

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Herman Robers
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If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.
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