Questons about Field Notice: FN72416

[airdconditioning]

This Field Notice was recently posted and I had a few questions I was hoping could be answered about it. The gist of the field notice is that some Catalyst 9300 switches were manufactured with DRAM that has a high risk of failure. Ideally, any affected switches should be replaced by Cisco.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/field-notices/724/fn72416.html

1. I have purchased some affected catalyst 9300 series switches second hand. Is it possible to receive replacements for these switches or do I need to be the original owner?

1. I would prefer not to use the Serial Number Validation Tool every time I am considering a purchase. Is there a specific range of serial numbers that the affected switches fall in that I can use as validation?

1. My affected switches are in production and I am unsure when exactly I will have a window to swap replacement switches in. How quickly do I need to send the affected switches in on an RMA after requesting a replacement?

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

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@airdconditioning wrote:
I have purchased some affected catalyst 9300 series switches second hand. Is it possible to receive replacements for these switches or do I need to be the original owner?

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Give it a try.  The worse Cisco can say is "no".  

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@airdconditioning wrote:
I would prefer not to use the Serial Number Validation Tool every time I am considering a purchase. Is there a specific range of serial numbers that the affected switches fall in that I can use as validation?

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No guarantee, however, if you are able to get the serial number of the switch you want to purchase and make sure it does not fall in the same year (of manufacture), it may help.

To determine the "year of manufacture code" based on the serial number:   FFFyymmabcd

• FFF = Factory Code
• YY = Year, whereby 28 is 2024, 27 is 2023, 26 is 2022, 25 is 2021, etc
• MM = Week of the year.  

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@airdconditioning wrote:
My affected switches are in production and I am unsure when exactly I will have a window to swap replacement switches in. How quickly do I need to send the affected switches in on an RMA after requesting a replacement?

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I believe within 30 days after the receipt of the replacement unit.