Is there any significant difference (other than service contract) between Cisco memory for routers verses third party, such as MemoryX? Does one, for example, provide parity and the other not?
It appears to me there isn't any significant difference.
Hi Burt,
Classified as "Original," Cisco OEM ( Original Equipment Manufacturer ) or "First Party" memory has been specifically engineered for, tested and approved by Cisco Systems to work "flawlessly" in their equipment.
Cisco memory classified as "Third Party" has been engineered and manufactured to be compatible with Cisco equipment, however, it has not been specifically tested and approved by Cisco Systems.
Cisco Guideline:
Third Party Components Support
The Cisco guideline for support and warranty services for the use of third-party memory, cables, gigabit interface controllers (GBICs), filters, or other non-Cisco components is as follows:
When a customer reports a product fault or defect and Cisco believes the fault or defect can be traced to the use of third-party memory products, cables, GBIC's, filters, or other non-Cisco components by a customer or reseller, then, at Cisco's discretion, Cisco may withhold support under warranty or a Cisco support program such as SMARTnet=99 service.
When a product fault or defect occurs in the network, and Cisco concludes that the fault or defect is not attributable to the use of third-party memory, cables, GBICs, filters, or other non-Cisco components installed by a customer or reseller, Cisco will continue to provide support for the affected product under warranty or covered by a Cisco support program.
The nature of the defect or error is the key to determining Cisco support obligations.
Cisco also reserves the right to charge the customer per then current time and material rates for services provided to the customer when Cisco determines, after having provided such services, that the root cause of the defective product was caused by a third party vendor supplied product.
The "old" Cisco OEM Memory AVL ( Approved Vendor List ):
The bottom line answer is that Cisco branded memory will be supported by your SmartNet contract. Non-branded memory won't & depending on if you get a jerk or not who responds to your service call you may be denied warranty service if non-branded memory is found in the router.
Both of these answers are BS. Cisco buys their memory from many different vendors, so the third party memory you purchase could very well be the EXACT same memory that Cisco uses themselves.. As long as the memory is being sold and advertised for the specific router you are purchasing it for it will work. When you install the memory in the router and it works and then
6 months or a year goes by, and you send the router for replacement under smartnet, Cisco will NOT charge you back if the memory was the problem. On the other hand, if you buy the memory and it doesn't work when you install it, send it back to the memory vendor and not Cisco. Cisco has NO WAY of knowing if the memory you purchased was purchased from Cisco or a 3rd party. I have been purchasing 3rd party memory for over 8 years and Cisco has never, ever, ever, ever even raised one eyebrow about using 3rd party memory (our sales rep tells us NOT to buy memory upgrades from him because he even thinks it is a waste of money) We have a big network (over 3,000 Cisco devices), and over those 8 years have done hundreds of RMA's and not once was this ever an issue.Scott
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