Catalyst Switch Uptime

[jsilas007]

There is a site that I have just become responsible for and the first thing that I noticed is that some of the switches uptime is over 2years without a reboot. What is the longest your switch or router should go before it gets rebooted? Is there a white paper that explains the problems that can occur if you don't reboot, such as memory leak, vlan bleeding, etc.

Thanks,

[Richard Burts]

John

While there have been a few releases of Catalyst code that have problems like memory leaks, they are the exception to the rule. Unlike some other operating systems there is generally not a need for a periodic reboot to clear memory problems. In general the Catalyst code is not bothered very much with issues of memory leaks and other similar problems. And memory fragmentation is usually not much of a problem - in contrast to some other operating systems. So uptimes of 2 years are not rare and are generally not a cause for concern. In general I would not reboot a Catalyst switch until there is a demonstrated need for it.

HTH

Rick

[jsilas007]

Hey Rick,

I have three 4006, two 5500, and one 6513. What about MEMD, I was told that this is a result of not rebooting a switch.

[Richard Burts]

John

I am not sure that I understand your question here. MEMD is usually the memory used to switch or forward packets. What is it about MEMD that you are asking.

HTH

Rick