End of Life = do not use?

I am trying to put together an expansion plan a network and I want to know if I should look for switches that are not past EoL? We are currently using 2960s and 3560s and I would like to stick with that, but if its against a best practice or just a bad idea I will take this chance to move to something newer.

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keenon

depends on what or how they are going to be used, you may could go 3rd party ( if budget is the issue ) and get newer devices if they plan on being there a long time.

I would need more info on the planned expansion idea

EdTheLad

EOS End of Sale is the more important date.

TAC will support hw for 5 years after EOS, 3 year sw support.
Maintenance releases i.e. bug fixes will be available for 5 years.

So the question is, do you need support? Whats you failure recovery plan?
Is your company aware and happy to run a cheap network with no vendor support?

2960s and 3560's are so cheap you could have a stack of them ready as replacements, it all depends what kind of network you have and if outages are acceptable. Even with support from a vendor you will have outages with failures but at least your back is covered. If i was implementing a network with cheap gear, i'd send a lot of mails explaining exactly what equipment is going in, that there's no support and how much you are saving the company, then let someone else make that decision and get it in writing.

--chris--

@EdTheLad

I am having difficulty decoding the model numbers. The description of a few of the 2960s threw me for a loop as well (see bold):

Cisco Catalyst 2960-24TC-S - switch - 24 ports - managed - rack-mountable - WS-C2960-24TC-S - Fixed (Managed) Switches - CDW.com

This family of fixed-configuration, standalone devices provide desktop 10/100 Fast Ethernet and 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.

Fixed config? Does that mean limited control compared to what I am used too? What does the TC-S designate? I believe the S series is the base model? I can see that P models are PoE...but TC-S?

As far as outages go, they are as averse to them as anyone else.

You mention cheap gear, I should emphasize that they have made it clear cost is a secondary consideration. #1 is that the network simply works, all the time.

networker050184

Fixed configuration means the hardware is fixed. You can not change out modules etc.

The TC-S has 24 10/100, two uplink and uses the LAN Lite image compared to the LAN Base which is more feature rich. I'm not quite sure of all the feature differences so it would be a good idea to look into that if you are planning on using any advanced features during the life of this gear.

If money is a secondary concern I'd certainly go with newer gear personally. No point in building out a new network with EoL gear unless you have to.

philz1982

What is the SLA of your network? What is it's criticality? You can stick with EoL/EoS stuff if you don't mind going gray market for it after the fact. If you run a Tier 4 data center you have different Tech Refresh schedules than a commercial office campus.

--chris--

networker050184 wrote: »

Fixed configuration means the hardware is fixed. You can not change out modules etc.

The TC-S has 24 10/100, two uplink and uses the LAN Lite image compared to the LAN Base which is more feature rich. I'm not quite sure of all the feature differences so it would be a good idea to look into that if you are planning on using any advanced features during the life of this gear.

If money is a secondary concern I'd certainly go with newer gear personally. No point in building out a new network with EoL gear unless you have to.

Thanks a lot, that makes more sense than what I thinking.

What would be cisco's newer line? Is the catalyst series old now?

--chris--

philz1982 wrote: »

What is the SLA of your network? What is it's criticality? You can stick with EoL/EoS stuff if you don't mind going gray market for it after the fact. If you run a Tier 4 data center you have different Tech Refresh schedules than a commercial office campus.

This is not a managed services client, therefore no SLA. The business performs test for the automotive industry, if the test cells lose network connectivity the tests are scrapped and must be started over (tests are 24-72 hours in length)....so criticality is high. We walked into this setup about 2 months ago, there are many glaring issues but we have the green light to straighten out whatever needs to be done to make sure smooth sailing is the norm.

gorebrush

With 2960's and 3560's -> I'd probably just buy a stack of spares and let them have at it. It's not like they fail constantly.

However, I'm qualified and experienced enough to know what I'm doing with these things - are you comfortable with fully reconfiguring them should they fail?

philz1982

--chris-- wrote: »

This is not a managed services client, therefore no SLA. The business performs test for the automotive industry, if the test cells lose network connectivity the tests are scrapped and must be started over (tests are 24-72 hours in length)....so criticality is high. We walked into this setup about 2 months ago, there are many glaring issues but we have the green light to straighten out whatever needs to be done to make sure smooth sailing is the norm.

On a side note, I know exactly what you are doing. I set a test-cell system for Cummin's Motor Plant.

--chris--

gorebrush wrote: »

With 2960's and 3560's -> I'd probably just buy a stack of spares and let them have at it. It's not like they fail constantly.

However, I'm qualified and experienced enough to know what I'm doing with these things - are you comfortable with fully reconfiguring them should they fail?

I have never run through a disaster replacement / install a new switch or router but it should just be a matter or either copying the image via TFTP to the new switch or copy/paste the config into it right?

--chris--

philz1982 wrote: »

On a side note, I know exactly what you are doing. I set a test-cell system for Cummin's Motor Plant.

During the onsite consult before we picked them up the owner described their business as "Blowing sh*t up and burning it down". They do fuel cell testing for the big three and other manufacturers, real cool stuff. Its like an episode of how its made every time I go there.

Trifidw

--chris-- wrote: »

I have never run through a disaster replacement / install a new switch or router but it should just be a matter or either copying the image via TFTP to the new switch or copy/paste the config into it right?

Unless it is absolutely massive, just copy and paste it in. I take the opportunity to tidy things up as well.

I've started to have the odd 3560 fail on me, as well as the early 3750's. If unplanned downtime is problematic then I wouldn't recommend using old hardware.