Recently, Cisco published a critical advisory concerning a clock signal component problem. Devices that contain the faulty component could potentially fail after 18 months of use; once the component has failed, the system will stop functioning, will not boot, and is not recoverable.
Cisco did not release specifics of the faulty clock part, but probably the component affected by this problem is the Intel’s Atom C2000 processor family that effectively bricks devices.
There is no workaround for this issue, so the only solution is to replace products under warranty or covered by any valid services contract dated as of November 16, 2016.
At the present time, the devices affected by this problem are:
- Routing
ISR4331, ISR4321, ISR4351 and UCS-E120
IR809/IR829 Industrial Integrated Services Routers
NCS5500 Line Cards - Switches
Nexus 9000 Series N9K-C9504-FM-E/N9K-C9508-FM-E/N9K-X9732C-EX
Meraki MS350 Series - Security
ASA 5506, ASA 5506W, ASA 5506H, ASA 5508, and ASA 5516
Cisco ISA3000 Industrial Security Appliance
Meraki MX 84 - Optical Networking
NCS1K-CNTLR
but the list is subjected to update. For more info check this link.
Note: the clock-signal-generating component is also used by other companies!
References: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/web/clock-signal.html
I’ve heard of planed obsolescence, but this takes the cake. :D
An Intel spokesperson in an email to The Register characterized
the issue as “a degradation of a circuit element under high use
conditions at a rate higher than Intel’s quality goals after multiple
years of service.”
So basically the chip burns itself out.