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Thread: Cisco IOS

  1. #1
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    Cisco IOS

    I have some eBay purchased Cisco gear(some 2950s, 3560s etc.) Most was acquired for the purposes of CCNA study. In the near future one may become a top-rack switch in production. Doing some research I have learned, correct me if I am wrong:

    -IOS license is non-transferable, so I need to purchase a new license.

    -IOS cannot be downloaded from the Cisco site without a SmartNET contract

    -SmartNET service contracts are out of the question without having the hardware re-inspected for a fee(Might as well buy new)

    My goal is to make this hardware legal, and hopefully update to a new version of IOS(I know that is one-time without SmartNET). Can anyone share any insight on the best way to accomplish this?

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by jdownj View Post
    I have some eBay purchased Cisco gear(some 2950s, 3560s etc.) Most was acquired for the purposes of CCNA study. In the near future one may become a top-rack switch in production. Doing some research I have learned, correct me if I am wrong:

    -IOS license is non-transferable, so I need to purchase a new license.

    -IOS cannot be downloaded from the Cisco site without a SmartNET contract

    -SmartNET service contracts are out of the question without having the hardware re-inspected for a fee(Might as well buy new)

    My goal is to make this hardware legal, and hopefully update to a new version of IOS(I know that is one-time without SmartNET). Can anyone share any insight on the best way to accomplish this?
    There is nothing illegal about owning the device without a smartnet support agreement and you can also purchase brand new devices without any smartnet agreement at all.

    SmartNET gets you support and updates - without it you can not update the devices or get cisco tac support.

    There are 100's of authorized vendors who can sell you a smartnet support package and there is even some who offer their own support package which will come much cheaper than SmartNET and should get you the IOS updates as well.

    You cannot download the updates without a login to the cisco site.
    Last edited by leckley; 04-16-2012 at 05:47 PM.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by leckley View Post
    There is nothing illegal about owning the device without a smartnet support agreement and you can also purchase brand new devices without any smartnet agreement at all.

    SmartNET gets you support and updates - without it you can not update the devices or get cisco tac support.

    There are 100's of authorized vendors who can sell you a smartnet support package and there is even some who offer their own support package which will come much cheaper than SmartNET and should get you the IOS updates as well.

    You cannot download the updates without a login to the cisco site.
    your <<mistaken>> if you think you can get a cisco IOS file without smartnet. People just can't make up their own licensing/support and give out IOS code.

    To smartnet a device it must be "recertified" by cisco. Although with some devices now such as ASR9ks you can buy smartnet on software only to get updates and not get smartnet on the hardware where as things like a 6500 were smartnet on the chassis and not per line card or software based.
    Last edited by bear; 04-16-2012 at 06:36 PM.
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  4. #4
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    I was under the impression that the license for IOS and SmartNET were two separate products. How does the rest of the world that doesn't buy SmartNET do this?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by jdownj View Post
    How does the rest of the world that doesn't buy SmartNET do this?
    They probably don't want to admit it in public
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  6. #6
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    Gotcha The local Cisco resellers arent interested in my tiny amount of business... I gotta keep looking

  7. #7
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    First off, depends on what equipment you have. As I understand it in an attempt to stop the rot in their core switching business Cisco now offer Limited Lifetime Warranty on some (lower end?) products like the 2960S series. As I understand it this includes IOS updates.

    Now if you are talking about EOL items, this also poses an interesting question as you can not get smartnet for these even if you wanted to. For these I just use my master smartnet account and download the images and click through the big warning about every download being tracked. I figured they were on smartnet when they could be so they can not bitch about me downloading the images now.

  8. #8
    You can use whatever Cisco device you have for any purpose you want, any where in the world (provided what you are doing with it is legal).
    If you own the device then likely you own the version of IOS that came with it. Use it instead of buying or upgrading new IOS (unless you haven't already paid for an upgrade) if there's not any severe bug or feature that's impossible to live with.

    same applies to the used hardware too..

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Micky Martin View Post
    You can use whatever Cisco device you have for any purpose you want, any where in the world (provided what you are doing with it is legal).
    If you own the device then likely you own the version of IOS that came with it. Use it instead of buying or upgrading new IOS (unless you haven't already paid for an upgrade) if there's not any severe bug or feature that's impossible to live with.

    same applies to the used hardware too..
    Well this is not strictly true... If you purchased the Cisco hardware new, yes you have a legit license for the software on the device. HOWEVER, the license terms state that the software is not transferable so if you buy a device used, say off ebay you are not legally in possession of a license. While it may work it is not legal.

    This "male cow manure" is exactly one of the reasons I have not redone my LAN with Cisco hardware this time around.

    License. Conditioned upon compliance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement, Cisco grants to Customer a nonexclusive and nontransferable license to use for Customer's internal business purposes
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/gene...h/EU1KEN_.html
    Last edited by david_halliday; 04-18-2012 at 12:13 AM.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by david_halliday View Post
    Well this is not strictly true... If you purchased the Cisco hardware new, yes you have a legit license for the software on the device. HOWEVER, the license terms state that the software is not transferable so if you buy a device used, say off ebay you are not legally in possession of a license. While it may work it is not legal.

    This "male cow manure" is exactly one of the reasons I have not redone my LAN with Cisco hardware this time around.



    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/gene...h/EU1KEN_.html
    I was not talking about Ebay. I was talking about 'pre-owned' network hardware. That stuff comes with a subscription.
    One such vendor I guess is VDS. They sell warranted hardware at nearly half of original price.
    Stuff bought from Ebay barely works, let alone its use for production

  11. #11
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    Doesn't look like they give you a 'License' any more than Ebay does. Some Ebay sellers actually are fairly large outfits and give quite good warranty on the hardware items. Its the legal right to run the IOS is the real problem.

    This warranty does not cover Software products, Key Codes, Voice Mails, batteries, headsets, licenses and Extended Warranty agreements, Service Agreements or Special Order Items.
    http://www.vds.com/quality/terms-and-conditions.aspx

    I think the whole nontransferable software license is folly for Cisco. It effectively ruins the legit resale value of items and thus makes some customers like me think twice about using their equipment is some scenarios where I may want to resale the units in a few years. They used to be much more open but as they grew more and more red tape become involved.
    Last edited by david_halliday; 04-18-2012 at 01:16 AM.

  12. #12
    Negative. That's only the guarantee part.
    They do deal with licenses.

    Check http://www.networkliquidators.com/ci...-item-5960.asp.
    Folks like these run multi million dollar businesses and any strain of software licensing can destroy their PR.

    But yes with all the hype of the non-transferable licenses; i am not sure what makes sellers of used hardware sell devices with IOS in them - especially when its illegal.

    And the biggest question is, why doesn't Cisco act against 'em?

    Quote Originally Posted by david_halliday View Post
    Doesn't look like they give you a 'License' any more than Ebay does. Some Ebay sellers actually are fairly large outfits and give quite good warranty on the hardware items. Its the legal right to run the IOS is the real problem.



    http://www.vds.com/quality/terms-and-conditions.aspx

    I think the whole nontransferable software license is folly for Cisco. It effectively ruins the legit resale value of items and thus makes some customers like me think twice about using their equipment is some scenarios where I may want to resale the units in a few years. They used to be much more open but as they grew more and more red tape become involved.

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