[c-nsp] Parity Errors and Cosmic Rays

[Rodney Dunn]

I've seen them be hardware and software. It all depends on where
the parity is detected.

You need the full logs and go through them because I've seen
way too often people replace the wrong part.

There is a good flow diagram on CCO about this:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/hw/routers/ps341/products_tech_note09186a0080094793.shtml#platforms2

and also look at the VIP ones:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/customer/products/hw/modules/ps2643/products_tech_note09186a0080094b15.shtml

Getting boards that have ECC protection can help some if you don't
have them.

Rodney




On Thu, May 05, 2005 at 09:17:35AM -0600, John Neiberger wrote:
> Back in February, I had a VIP freak out in my 7513 due to a memory
> parity error. TAC said that it appeared to be an isolated event and not
> due to an actual hardware problem. It happened again in April and TAC
> still said that it was most likely cosmic rays or something and not an
> actual hardware problem. However, we replaced the hardware anyway just
> to be safe.
> 
> Fast forward to this morning when the RSP4 in that router got a memory
> parity error and rebooted. That is a spectacularly bad thing to happen
> in our network considering what is attached to this router. Again, it
> appears that it's "an isolated event, probably due to cosmic rays."
> 
> How many times do I have to see the same "isolated" event before I
> start looking for other answers? I guarantee you that the CTO of our
> company will not be pleased when the best answer I can give to him is
> "cosmic rays".
> 
> Is this actually a common problem? Or at least common enough that I
> should expect to see it every other month or so? It seems strange that
> this router has run for years and we've never seen a memory parity error
> and now we've seen three in three months.
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Thanks,
> John
> --
> _______________________________________________
> cisco-nsp mailing list  cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
> https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/cisco-nsp
> archive at http://puck.nether.net/pipermail/cisco-nsp/