Generic Compact Flash cards and Cisco
Cisco typically lists Compact Flash memory cards at several hundred dollars a piece, even for sizes deemed obsolete by the current market. For example, compare around $300 for an official Cisco-branded Compact Flash card sporting a mere 64MB to $30 for a generic 8GB card. That's an obscene difference in price per MB.
Fortunately, generic CF cards will work just as well in your routers as the ones with the Cisco sticker. Some people will argue that the Cisco sticker somehow offers better reliability, but these cards contain the exact same technology inside. I tested this theory while constructing a rather large lab, after securing fifteen 256MB STEC-brand CF cards for a whopping $7 each (currently sold on eBay in lots of 2, 5, and 10).
These cards work perfectly out of the box, but it may be desirable to format and copy files from a workstation prior to loading the card into a production device. The following steps illustrate how to accomplish this on a Linux workstation with a USB Compact Flash adapter:
Step 1: Create a new partition
This isn't strictly necessary, but factory-new cards often have an odd default partition table, with extra space before and/or after the primary partition. fdisk or cfdisk are used to create a new FAT16 primary partition.
Note: Certain older routers, such as the 3700 series, may not accept "newer" partition formats. For example, my 3725 won't recognize type 06 (FAT16); it uses type 04 (FAT16 <32MB):
%PCMCIAFS-5-DIBERR: PCMCIA disk 1 is formatted from a different router or PC. A format
in this router is required before an image can be booted from this device
Step 2: Create a FAT16 filesystem
All the Cisco gear I've tested (limited to the 3700 series, x800 series ISRs, and ASAs) have used FAT16. Other device families, especially newer equipment, might make use of a different filesystem. If in doubt, you can always check what the stock Cisco card is formatted as.
The mkfsdos Linux utility (often referenced as mkfs.vfat for standardization) is used to create FAT16 and FAT32 filesystems. Make sure to include the FAT size argument (-F 16) to specify FAT16 creation.
~ # mkfs.vfat -F 16 /dev/sde1 mkfs.vfat 3.0.1 (23 Nov 2008)
The CF card can now be mounted and written to. A valid IOS image copied to the root of the disk will be bootable.
Also remember that if either of these steps seems to fail, you can always format your generic CF card directly from a Cisco device with the format command.
Comments
Great tip! I was just pondering this a few weeks ago.
Do you happen to know how to format CatOS flash cards? I seem to frequently run into issues with my sup720's where I always have the wrong format (IOS when I need cat and vice versa). Unfortunately I dont have a pre-formatted one handy to check.
I've been wondering for some time whether the same applies for RAM in the MSR/ISR series but I've never spent the time finding out. Surely it wouldn't be very different from PC100/133 SDR SDRAM? ECC maybe? The price difference isn't quite as absurd as flash memory, but its still at least a factor of 10x.
i've been using kingston cf cards in my 2821 and 3845 routers for more than two years now and had no problem so far.
i only ran into troubles, when i inserted 1gb kingston cf-cards into my sup720s of my cat6500s. the insertion of the cards were logged, but the switches were not able to access them ("no such device"). i stopped testing afterwards, but heard, that there are non-cisco cf-cards available, which work in cat6500s. the funny thing is, that the same cards work in my sup32 within other cat6500s.
The only problem with using generic CF cards in the Cisco devices is that not all of them work. And it can even be hardware version dependent.
For instance, we have been using Axiom 512MB cards in the bulk of our switches just fine. All of a sudden, a new version of the Sup720-10GE came out (went from HW version 2.x to 3.x) and the Axioms stopped working. But wouldn't you know... The Cisco branded cards work just fine.
So the non-Cisco cards can be a little bit of a hassle at times. But it's definitely worth going through a few different models of cards to find ones that work.
On a related note, if anyone knows of a 3rd party card that works in the new Sup720-10GEs, let me know. =)
Don't forget that using 3rd party flash cards could invalidate your maintenance support?
frigin cisco..$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Ive seen a lot of linux/windows based format's of CF cards fail on higher end Cisco devices (e.g. 6500/7600/7200/GSR etc)
Its best if you format the CF from the device where it is intended to be used :-)
The CF might show up correctly in IOS but the ROMMON code might not be able to read the CF card in many cases. Unfortunately this is seen only when the device reloads, which is usually a sign of trouble and the last thing you want is a CF card giving you trouble when there is already enough to think about and deal with :-)
Just my 2c.
Next topic... WAAS hard drives! Go for it.
I had one problem with a "linear" flash card, I had to buy exacly a linear one, I've never heard about them it was for a cisco 3640, I bouthg an "acme" one, and it works fine, just like a cisco one would do.
I do the same with ram memmory I don't buy the certified one for personal use. I buy cisco one just for customers.
Cheers
So Stretch, have you tested the "format" command on the router to do this? This way you would be guaranteed to have a correct format.
To the same accord but slightly off topic, the RAM which Cisco sell for their WAE appliances (WAAS) can be compared to to other cheaper options.
Compare the price of around $125/GB aftermarket RAM, to around $800/GB of Cisco branded RAM.
Taking into account that the appliance is merely an IBM server with a Cisco badge, buying aftermarket RAM works just as well. if you want reliability, there's that option too - it will certainly still beat Cisco's price
After upgrading your WAE's RAM, remember to rebuild your DRE cache since the size of it's stucture is entirely based on the amount of RAM in the server
Cisco has multiple file systems that are in use on the flash cards. They call them Class A, B, C.
Class A&C file systems allow you to use the FORMAT command.
Class B file systems require the ERASE command.
Class filesystems: https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-4250;jsessionid=B59863B923288EFC45BB9239D6F541E5.node0
Here is a link to the new ISR-G2's that explains this in more detail:
http://www.cisco.mn/en/US/docs/routers/access/1900/software/configuration/guide/appendixBcflash.html#wp1014774
I agree with "that_dude". I have had zero issues reading/formatting CF cards using Windows XP and just copying files when working with ISR models of routers. However, when I tried to apply this technique to a 7206VXR with a NPE-G2 it flat out DID NOT WORK.
As far as aftermarket RAM, that works fine as listed above (with servers etc.). It also works great for routers. Simpletech sells Cisco RAM modules:
http://www.simpletech.com/products/memory/cisco-memory-upgrades
I used these to bump my 2801 to 384MB.
Good tip to release to the masses! Same goes for Juniper devices as well. Many companies will sell Cisco and/or Juniper equipment, and when the customer returns for CF cards the sales staff sells them the branded cards with an astounding markup!
People! You can buy these cards at Walgreens, Wal-Mart, or Batteries Plus if you need one in a pinch! No reason not to have a few in your crash cart when it really matters ;)