[c-nsp] Parity Errors and Cosmic Rays

[Rodney Dunn]

And I should have said that I've been working on this
box for over 7 years and I've only seen 2 times that
it was software. It's very very rare and when it is
it's usually a parity error on the PCI bus connected
to the PA.

On Thu, May 05, 2005 at 11:34:53AM -0400, Rodney Dunn wrote:
> 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
> > --
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