What to know about buying Cisco equipment on s

Below is a list of helpful points to consider when buying Cisco equipment on okay.

All Cisco equipment is registered with Cisco at the time of purchase. This includes direct purchases from Cisco as well as indirect purchases through distribution channels.
Each piece of Cisco equipment includes embedded software which is licensed to the original purchaser only. Each subsequent transfer must relicense that software in order to be legitimate. The process to relicense the embedded software includes a service call from a Cisco authorized service person and can cost upwards of $300.00.
All Cisco Catalyst standalone and stackable switches gee with a manufacturer's limited lifetime warranty which includes repair or replacements at Cisco's descretion for what they consider to be the useful lifetime of the unit. The useful lifetime of the unit is extends 5 full years after the unit is discontinued from manufacture.
The only service contract/extended warranty that is Cisco authorized is SmartNet. Buying a SmartNet service contract is the only way to gain access to secure parts of Cisco's website for software and firmware updates. In addition SmartNet contracts give you access to Cisco's TAC.
If you have any doubts as to whether the equipment you have purchased on okay is legitimate, you can always call Cisco and give them the serial number. They can tell you not only if the unit is legitimate and not grey market, but also they can tell you if you are the registered owner of the unit.
If you are unsure how to purchase legitimate Cisco equipment, look in the listings for the a Cisco Partner logo and verify the seller on Cisco's website. This is your only guaranty that you are purchasing legitimate equipment. This is because regardless of the level of participation in Cisco's programs, the single most important requirement is that they only source their equipment through an authorized distributor or from Cisco directly.