As I've been saying for a while, instead of buying new kit, perhaps we
could spend some time on getting better software onto our older kit?
Getting stuff to multiplex better, be more reliable, last longer?
So we've been running Arista's 7508E devices as
core switches in data centres to support 1Gbps, 10Gbps and 100Gbps
internal cabling (purely Layer 2, no IP).
We suddenly got told that they are now EoS/EoL some time back (I
probably should have done a better job tracking this, but I tend
to rely on vendor notifications for that based on my Cisco/Juniper
experience). So Arista advised we move to the 7508R3, which
doesn't make sense for us because we are currently only using 2x
slots from the chassis, and nowhere close to max'ing out the line
card or switch fabric capacity.
It just didn't make sense to us to spend hundreds-of-thousands of
$$ for no extra benefit in performance or technology (Layer 2 is
very simple).
So we decided to keep the the 7508E, even if they are EoL. The box
is brain-dead, runs fine, shifts bits nice and good, and hums
along quietly.
I can't fathom why a box like that has already been EoL'ed. It
isn't long in the tooth, and still has plenty of bite in it. But,
we also need to use common sense, and for us, swapping it out just
to maintain "support" isn't worth the cash. There are options for
cold sparing...