What would you consider as legacy routers and switches?

Raymond Mason

Since I haven't had a chance to work in this field I was wondering what you would consider as legacy routers and switches?

Like for example any model older then 2XXX ect. This is so I can spot old stuff when I see it.

Priston

When I see 2500, 2600, 3600, and 3700 routers at work, it makes me sad.

GDaines

I tried to answer this but realized as I approached a 'War & Peace' sized reply that it's not a simple question to answer other than to say find them on the Cisco website and look to see if they're listed as 'End Of Life'.

I can't even help with your 2xxx example as that's generally where they sit in the range regarding features etc. For example, there are 1800-series, 2800-series and 3800-series routers with each getting progressively bigger, more expensive, more expandable and more feature rich. It's the second digit that determines the age of the range with, for example, a 2500-series router being older than a 2600-series, 2700-series, 2800-series and 2900-series.

BUT... switches are different as they use the third digit to determine the age, for example a 2950 is older than a 2960. But then there's another BUT in that at least as of January 2016 you can still buy a 2960 switch, but it's nothing like the old 10/100 2960 switches that are probably 10 years old.

And again the reply is going to get too long so I'll give up already.

Another way to look at it is if you can't buy it new from a reputable supplier then it's probably 'legacy'. Does that mean it's too old and has to be replaced? Probably not.

Raymond Mason

Thank you guys. Now I have a rough idea what would be considered legacy.

techfiend

Cisco has by far the most convoluted naming convention I've seen. Like most others (esp cpu/gpu) it's so inefficient they have to reuse models to add longevity to the current naming scheme. Like Microsoft licensing it's nearly impossible for companies to make good decisions on what Cisco hardware to buy without extensive training.

I'd blow the whole thing up and implement a straightforward efficient design sooner rather than later but it continues with them adding cisco meraki line with all these capabilities. Not only are company purchases very difficult but they also get tricked into thinking cisco certified should be experienced with it since it's cisco. It's probably reached, or at least near, the point where a majority of cisco's hardware doesn't fall under their certifications. I bet there's CCIE's that would be able to handle but kind of lost in Cisco Small Business and Cisco Meraki and there's something really wrong with that.

Let's hope Dell doesn't try to do this to VMware and EMC. I have a feeling 'Dell VMWare' will be a thing and 'Dell EMC' has already been a thing but luckily Dell doesn't have an extensive set of certifications to confuse everyone.

theodoxa

Priston wrote: »

When I see 2500, 2600, 3600, and 3700 routers at work, it makes me sad.

I kid you not...I ran across a business still using a Cisco 1600 Series router just last year.

As for the original question...I would personally have said the 1600 and 2500 series (exception for a 2509 being used as an access server) are definitely legacy. The 1700, 2600, 3600, and 3700 series are borderline legacy if not legacy at this point. While, Cisco may consider them EOL, I would not consider the 1st Generation ISRs (1800, 2800, and 3800 series) legacy just yet. There are still plenty of businesses using them and they are still decent routers.

For switches, any non modular switch running anything other than IOS or IOS XE (e.g. Catalyst 1900 series) is beyond legacy. Anything older than the 2950 and 3550 are definitely legacy and the 2950 and 3550 should probably be considered legacy.

Of course, Cisco uses the terms "End of Sale" and End of Life", which essentially mean everything older than the latest and greatest model.

OfWolfAndMan

You know things are old when they're still running some CatOS in their environment.

crplhood

There are so many different situations, I think the only safe blanket statement is that anything running PIXos is legacy. I still love my 525 though. It's like a salty old sailor.

hurricane1091

How old is a 7200 by the way? We have one sitting back in the lab and it literally looks like a relic.

crplhood

hurricane1091 wrote: »

How old is a 7200 by the way? We have one sitting back in the lab and it literally looks like a relic.

Cisco site has some models end of sale early 2000s.