r/homelab•
thehedgefrog

10G, L3, 16-24 SFP+ port switch with low noise and power consumption? (looking for the unicorn)

Discussion

I currently run two ICX7250-48 switches stacked (one PoE, one not) and all my 12 SFP+ ports are used (stacking uses four).

I only have ~35-40 1G devices plugged in, so the second switch only serves as a way to increase the number of 10G ports, but incidentally also increases the noise, heat and power consumption significantly.

I have several unused switches including an ICX 7150-48P that would likely suit my needs better if I could 10G link it to a dedicated 10G switch.

The massive 40 port SFP+ switches that make jet engine sounds and pull 250w idle are out. I looked into Mikrotik but it seems like while they're excellent L2 switches, L3 is much slower due to their CPU implementation. I need to be able to saturate 10G links between machines, and ideally go up to ~50G total bandwidth at any single time.

Anyone had success finding that unicorn of a switch and can recommend one?

Thanks in advance.

Posted Oct 6, 2025, 7:08 PM UTC

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