Cisco 4000 Series Routers

Table Of Contents

Product Bulletin - Confidential No. 828

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

Product Bulletin - Confidential No. 828

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Cisco NP-2E End of Sales Announcement

December 14, 1998 Cisco Systems announced "End-of-Sales" for the Cisco 4000 Series 2 port Ethernet Network Processing Module (NPM), the NP-2E. The End-of-Sales is effective June 14, 1999. This does not generally affect either the installed base of Cisco 4500 and 4700 routers or the sales of new Cisco 4500-M or 4700-M because they support the NP-2E-FDX 2 port Ethernet NPM which was introduced in July 1998. It does affect the installed base of Cisco 4000 and 4000-M routers which do not support the NP-2E-FDX. The Cisco 4000-M's End-of Sales date was July 10, 1998 and this was announced in January 1998. Cisco is announcing this End-of-Sale for the NP-2E because a certain component has been obsoleted by its supplier and Cisco only has sufficient inventories for 6 more months of orders. Cisco does not have plans at this time to announce End-of-Sale for other spares used by the Cisco 4000 and 4000-M.

The minimal impact that this has on the Cisco 4500, 4500-M, 4700 and 4700-M installed base is that customers must be running at least IOS 11.2(14), 11.2(14)P, 11.3(4), 11.3(4)T, 12.0(1), or 12.(1)1T to support the NP-2E-FDX. However, the NP-2E will continue to be supported by all the new IOS releases that are supported on these routers.

The products affected by the End-of-Sales are attached as Appendix A.

End-of-Sales refers to the time when certain products are no longer available for new purchases. It does not apply to the service and support programs for those products. Cisco will continue to support the NP-2E as well as the Cisco 4000 and 4000-M after end of sales through our SmartNet and Comprehensive Maintenance programs. Customers with either of these service contracts are entitled to free software updates through all maintenance releases of 12.0 mainline, 24-hour phone support through the Technical Assistance Center, and advance replaced hardware for repairs. Comprehensive Maintenance customers also receive on-site service. Customers who do not have a maintenance contract can purchase software updates and hardware repair services from Cisco to meet specific requirements rather than full service coverage. Cisco is committed to supporting these systems for a period of five (5) years after their respectiveEnd-of-Sales dates. Appendix B has a complete list of various dates associated with the End of Life Process for both the NP-2E and the 4000-M.

In the end of October 1997 Cisco announced an aggressive trade-in program called the "Technology Migration Program". This program enables Cisco customers to upgrade their existing 4000, 4000-M series routers and NPMs to many other Cisco prducts. For maximum protection of investment customers should choose an upgrade to the 4500-M or 4700-M since their 4000/4000-M NPMs can be reused (with the exception of the NP-1E). When customers need higher density or more than the 4 to 6 times performance increase of the 4500-M and 4700-M, the Cisco 7200 series is an attractive upgrade. Where customers seek dial or voice integration the Cisco 3600 is attractive.

If you have any questions, please call me at (408) 526-4329 or e-mail me at ksides@cisco.com.

Kip Sides
Product Manager, Cisco 4X00 Series

APPENDIX A

Cisco NP-2E End of Sales Listing

Cisco 4000 Series Products
NP-2E	2-Ethernet Port NP Module

APPENDIX B

Cisco NP-2E End of Life Schedule

End of Life Announcement	December 14, 1998
End of Sales (final ordering date)	June 14, 1999
End of Shipment	Approximately July 14, 1999 (depends on size of final orders and resultant leadtimes)
End of Smartnet Contract Renewal	June 14, 2003
End of Support - Product Obsolescence	June 14, 2004

Cisco 4000-M End of Life Schedule

End of Life Announcement	January 12, 1998
End of Sales (final ordering date)	July 10, 1998
End of Smartnet Contract Renewal	July 10, 2002 (for both 4000 and 4000-M)
End of Support - Product Obsolescence	July 10, 2003 (for both 4000 and 4000-M)
Last Software Support	Final Maintenance release of Cisco IOS 12.0
Memory Availability	In general at least 18 mos. from End of Sales or Dec 31, 1999. Cisco can make no guarantees on availability of specific memory parts due to reliance on its memory suppliers. In the few known cases of possible part obsolescence Cisco expects that substitutes (in some cases larger amounts of memory) will be available.
Network Processor Module (NPM) Availability	Other NPM's other than the NP-1E and NP-2E will be available as long as Cisco continues to offer the Cisco 4500-M and 4700-M. As of the announcement date of this 4000-M EOL, sales of the 4500-M and 4700-M are very strong, Cisco continues to invest in these platforms with new hardware and software features and there are no near term plans to discontinue them.