What is Approved and 3rd Party Memory?

There's a widespread confusion among Cisco customers as to what the difference really is between Cisco approved memory modules and their third party counterparts.

The memory parts customers get when they purchase Cisco equipment are manufactured by a Cisco approved OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). The OEM could be any company from Cisco's Approved Vendor List (AVL) which includes companies such as OKI Semiconductor, NEC Electronics, and Samsung among others.

Approved/OEM or "first party" Cisco memory refers to memory parts manufactured by companies on Cisco's AVL; these memory modules have been engineered specifically for use by Cisco Systems and undergo strict and comprehensive testing before being approved by Cisco for use with their routers and other products. These modules are guaranteed to have 100% compatibility with their corresponding Cisco equipments and are backed by a lifetime warranty.

Third party memory modules on the other hand are manufactured by companies not on Cisco's AVL and are not tested nor approved by Cisco Systems. The manufacturer does offer warranty and compatibility guarantee for these memory modules but Cisco does not.

 

OEM, "first Party", memory options for all Cisco routers and switches approved for use with Cisco System equipment by Cisco. These products are 100% compatible and will not effect any warranties or Smartnet contracts.

 

Produced by non-approved manufacturers. These products will come with a manufacturers compatibility guaranty but may however effect any warranties or Smartnet contracts.