I seek clarification on the Cisco Serial Number format, AAANNNNXXXX has AAA (all alpha) for the Cisco Supply Manufacturer, NNNN (all numeric) has first two NN to refer to year and second two NN refer to week in that year, with XXXX (alpha-numeric, less the letters O and I) as a unique identifier.
The following is one example of stating that the year (first two NN) refers to the number of years since the manufacturer became a supplier to Cisco: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/optical-networking/ons-15454-sonet-multiservice-provisioning-platform-mspp/18280-numbers-18280.html
But, the following shows an example of stating that the year (first two NN) refers to the number of years since 1996 (ie 00 is 1996, 01 is 1997): https://supportforums.cisco.com/discussion/10832396/cisco-serial-number-lookups
The two systems only agree when a manufacturing supplier began supplying in 1996. With any other supplier start year the two systems wont agree.
Via extensive Google searches and on Cisco web I have found many opinions of 'fact' stating one or the other (usually the second).
Can someone please give a rock solid definitive response on the Cisco Serial Number format?
