wilbilt
Pronto Resurrected
Premium
join:2004-01-11
Oroville, CA
| Catalyst 3500 Series Dropping Like Flies?
In our organization we have a hundred or so 3500 series switches. Over the past couple of years they have gone EOL, so we were unable to renew the contracts on them.
During the past six months, we have experienced a large number of failures. Usually, they go into a cycle of rebooting with a final failure to boot.
One I worked on today had what appeared to be an intermittent power supply. I realize these have been running nearly ten years nonstop, but the trend has me concerned.
We are a nonprofit (public school district) with little replacement funding available. Is this an expected failure mode, i.e., EOL models dying en masse?
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We were taking a vote when the ground came up and hit us. |
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GoD of KaOs
Agent of KaOs
join:2001-01-29
Chatsworth, CA | When I used to work for an ISP a few years back; I've seen multiple ports die on those switches. But not the problems you've been experiencing. |
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aryoba
Premium,MVM
join:2002-08-22
| reply to wilbilt
Failed power supply is always possible with any electronic devices. Good care of environment such as clean power and good air flow to avoid clogging dusts or excessive heat is always a good idea to prolong the device lifetime.  |
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vipergg22
@netacc.net
| reply to wilbilt
I would say they should start budgeting for new switches , you have gotten more than adequate life out of them if they are 10 years . The thing that will always go first are the cooling fans , once those stop it will just be a short time before you get power supply and motherboard failures . Fans will always be the weak link . |
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MrTwister
Premium
join:2003-09-27
Hilliard, OH
| reply to wilbilt
I would say they should start budgeting for new switches , you have gotten more than adequate life out of them if they are 10 years . The thing that will always go first are the cooling fans , once those stop it will just be a short time before you get power supply and motherboard failures . Fans will always be the weak link .
You beat me to that one. The fans and power supplies are
the things that usually fail. We utilize power conditioning
UPS units to smooth out the power and help protect the
power supplies. Fans on the other hand, that's a whole
nother story.
IN our data centers, fan failure is really, really low,
as the data centers are climate controlled, and dust
and other air born particulates are kept to very minimum.
Card board and other items that tend to throw off
particles are removed as soon as they're unpacked.
The IDF's with the distribution layer switches are
kept the same way. We also utilize the PWR-675
backup power supplies (multiple units per stack), to
carry the up to 3 to 4 c3750 switches having power
supply failures (if you've ever used a PWR-675 you
know what I'm talking about, as you might have
6 to 8 ports, but only 1 power supply will be
protected, 2 on the next model up).
Now all bets are off for our remote sites.
We do have environmental requirements, and we do
provide UPS conditioning for the MDF's, but IDF's
in remotes range from excellent conditions, to
extremely poor (a IDF switch in a court house
clock tower with oily mist in the air comes to mind).
These environments, really show the fan's airflow
capabilities. Almost all off the fans being
exhaust fans, it's almost impossible to put filters
on the units. Dirt gets sucked into the bearings
of the fans, and the rest is history. Our main
offending parts, are the Quad fan trays that
c3745 routers have. We usually have one or two
of the fans fail, which causes fan failure messages
to start streaming to the console and management stations.
For some odd reasons it's almost always the
#2 fan in the unit that goes bad.
If you treat the devices properly with conditioned power
and you don't cook them with heat issues, they will
run forever. We've got a few units that have been
running constantly for over 10 years. We regularly
refresh our network equipment, but a few of these devices
are switches that are basically glorified GIG fiber
repeaters.
I can't say it for other vendors, but for most of the
Cisco devices, you really get a solid device for the
price paid.
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carp
join:2002-10-30
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to wilbilt
Yep, one of our customers is experiencing the same pain. Plus they are in manufacturing without proper environmental protection of the switches so they really drop like flies.
All I can suggest is what we suggested to them. Start buying gear. Maybe look at lower cost models like the CISCO 500 where appropriate or a less costly vendor. |
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tdoran
Premium
join:2003-09-27
Ridge, NY
| reply to wilbilt
wilbilt,contact Cisco HQ in San Jose, ask for "donations", there is a department for that, they have done a lot with the educational system in California. They may be able to supplie at "no cost" or "very low cost" refurbished equiptment.
Tim |
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vipergg2
@netacc.net | reply to carp
If price is a big concern and you willing to learn a new os you can always look at lower priced gear like HP which comes with lifetime warranties and software support for free. |
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tdoran
Premium
join:2003-09-27
Ridge, NY | reply to wilbilt
You also may wish to ask your Cisco Partner, and/or your local Cisco office about:
Catalyst Switching Technology Migration Program
PROMO-001240 PROMO-071030
Effective dates:
July 30, 2005 to July 31, 2009
Tim |
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kubaff
join:2007-06-14
kenya | reply to wilbilt
Cisco has a trade-in program that will allow you to swap 3500 for 3560 or 3750 at a hugely discounted fee.
Check with the local Cisco Partner |
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tdoran
Premium
join:2003-09-27
Ridge, NY
1 edit | said by kubaff  :Cisco has a trade-in program that will allow you to swap 3500 for 3560 or 3750 at a hugely discounted fee. Check with the local Cisco Partner You should read the prior message, where I posted the offical name and promotion number for such a program.
In all cases (in the US), the local Cisco office has to be "involved" for "approval", and not all Cisco Partners can offer all promotions, that is why it is best to contact the local Cisco office, and they will suggest the "right" partner.
Tim
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battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000 | reply to wilbilt
If cost is a concern you might want to look at a reseller or ebay. The 3500s are dirt cheap on the used market. I would try the donation route as well. |
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tdoran
Premium
join:2003-09-27
Ridge, NY
| reply to wilbilt
Most school districts do not permit used non-traceable (that is equipment from non-authorized sources such as and including EBay and other auction sites), or used equipment that is beyond the “generally accepted” IRS allowed useful capital goods depriciation period.
By contacting the local Cisco office they (Cisco) will assist them, often schools can purchase new or Cisco refurbished equipment for a little as 10% of the discounted price level. Cisco will assist the school district with the appropriate Federal E-Rate funds and other Federal/State grants.
NYC has place 100’s of millions of dollars in Cisco equipment in NYC Schools over the last ten plus years, with a major and significant portion funded by E-Rate.
Auction equipment is not the way to go with schools.
Tim |
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wilbilt
Pronto Resurrected
Premium
join:2004-01-11
Oroville, CA
| said by tdoran :Most school districts do not permit used non-traceable (that is equipment from non-authorized sources such as and including EBay and other auction sites), or used equipment that is beyond the “generally accepted” IRS allowed useful capital goods depriciation period. By contacting the local Cisco office they (Cisco) will assist them, often schools can purchase new or Cisco refurbished equipment for a little as 10% of the discounted price level. Cisco will assist the school district with the appropriate Federal E-Rate funds and other Federal/State grants. NYC has place 100’s of millions of dollars in Cisco equipment in NYC Schools over the last ten plus years, with a major and significant portion funded by E-Rate. Auction equipment is not the way to go with schools. Tim Thanks for the replies and good information. We have applied for replacement equipment via e-rate, but there is no guarantee of funding, especially in the current climate.
The Switching Technology Migration Program may be a good avenue to pursue. We have been planning replacement and have tried to maximize hardware life due to to the 2 in 5 e-rate rules, but it looks like we waited one year too many.
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We were taking a vote when the ground came up and hit us. |
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