The problem is there are knockoffs that have that have cloned the program in the eeprom so that CISCO gear recognizes it as valid, but CISCO has gone to setting up a database of valid serial numbers. They have an internal database but if you have a CISCO maintenance contract you can plug the serial number in and it will come back EITHER A) that the prodcut is not valid for coverage(due to the fact that it is covered by the switch) or B) that the serail number is invalid which means its not in CISCO's internal database and the odds are it is a knockoff. The one caveat is that there are reports of serial numbers not getting transmitted or added to the database. In any event if it comes back invalid the odds are it is genuine CISCO.
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