Foundry FastIron: Layer 2/3 Edge and Wiring Closet Switches

01 /What FastIron was

FastIron was the Foundry Networks name for its access and wiring closet switches, the boxes that connected desks, phones and access points and uplinked to a BigIron core. The family ran for the whole life of the company and was refreshed more often than any other line, which is why so many differently shaped switches share the name. The switching hub covers the underlying features.

FastIron is unusual among Foundry names because it outlived the company. Brocade kept it as the software brand for its campus switches, and Ruckus, now a CommScope brand, still ships FastIron releases for the ICX line. A FastIron manual dated today describes a living product, not an archive.

02 /Generations

03 /Features that defined the line

Each generation added the access features of its period. VLANs and trunking were present from the start. Power over Ethernet arrived with the Edge series for IP phones. 802.1X port authentication, MAC filtering and DHCP snooping came in the early 2000s software trains. Rapid and multiple spanning tree replaced classic STP. On models with a router image, OSPF, RIP and VRRP turned a closet switch into a small Layer 3 core.

04 /FastIron models the filings and evaluations name

Because FastIron was refreshed so often, model claims are the ones most worth checking. Foundry's 10-K for 2001 lists the FastIron 4802, a JetCore closet switch with 48 10/100 ports and two optional Gigabit uplinks, beside the modular 400, 800 and 1500. The 10-K for 2003 records FastIron Edge switches with Power over Ethernet delivered that year. The 10-K for 2007 states that the SuperX began shipping in 2006, that SuperX and Edge supported IEEE 802.3af power with redundant hot-swappable supplies, and that standalone Edge and Workgroup switches carried a five-year hardware warranty. A capture of the family page from April 2006 lists the 4802, the Edge Switch and its PoE version, the Workgroup X, the Edge X, the SuperX and the FI 400, 800 and 1500.

The Common Criteria Security Target of July 2008 is the most precise surviving model list, because an evaluation must name every unit it covers. It records the SuperX chassis (FI-SX1, FI-SX800, FI-SX1600) on IronWare 4.1.00; the GS and LS stackables on 4.2.00a, including the FLS624 and FLS648, the FGS624P and FGS648P with PoE variants and the FGS624XGP with integrated 10 Gigabit; the Edge X family on 4.1.00 with the FESX424, its PREM variant carrying full Layer 3, and the +1XG and +2XG uplink variants; and an Edge Switch family on 4.0.00a. Remote administration in the evaluated configuration required SSH version 2.

05 /Switch code versus router code

Foundry shipped two IronWare images for many FastIron models. The switch image did Layer 2 only, with a single management IP. The router image added IP routing between VLANs through virtual interfaces and the routing protocols. The two images used different configuration syntax for VLAN IP addressing, so a config from one will not load cleanly on the other. Second-hand units arrive with either, and the file name in show flash tells you which.

show version
show flash
show chassis
show inline power
show vlan

06 /Why it sold in schools and enterprises

FastIron switches undercut the dominant campus vendor on price per port while offering a CLI that felt familiar, plus PoE and Gigabit to the desk earlier than many competitors. School districts, universities and mid-sized enterprises bought them in volume, often alongside a BigIron core, which is why FastIron datasheets and the FES feature guide were among the most requested pages on this domain.

07 /Running one today

The Edge X and GS models are the practical choices. Non-PoE versions are quiet enough for a home office; PoE versions run hotter and louder. Images and release notes for the Foundry-era models sit behind a support login at the current owner, so a unit without a working image is hard to revive. Brocade-era FCX and ICX units are a better buy for a lab because their software still receives updates and the CLI is the same lineage. FastIron Edge switches were also the management point for the IronPoint wireless access points, and the Foundry family index lists the other lines sold alongside FastIron.

08 /Checking a FastIron claim before you buy or configure

The identification transcript earlier on this page tells you which image and hardware you have; the second question is whether the unit does what a listing claims. A FESX424 without the PREM licence routes only in a limited way, and a GS without the XGP suffix has no 10 Gigabit port. Check the model string from show version against the Security Target list. For any claim resting on a manual, note which capture you used; the method for recording capture dates for vendor manuals belongs to the same discipline as the authenticity lane the rest of the site documents.

device# show version
device# show running-config
device# show ip interface
device# show ip route
device# show vlan

• Pitfall: a Layer 2 image accepts one global ip address and rejects interface ve; that is the image, not a fault.
• Pitfall: the 2007 filing's five-year warranty covered units sold new, not second-hand purchases.
• Pitfall: a trailing P, XGP or PREM changes the feature set. Read the full model string, not the family name.