Networking gear is the category where two physically identical units can be worth very different money, and the reason is almost never condition. It's licensing, support history and whether the thing is still tied to your account.
A switch or router configuration is a far richer document than people assume. It contains local administrator accounts and password hashes, SNMP community strings, RADIUS and TACACS shared secrets, VPN pre-shared keys, access control lists that describe your internal structure, and often the addresses of your other infrastructure.
Erasing the startup configuration is the obvious step and it is not sufficient on its own. Archived configurations, crash dumps and firmware images sit in internal flash, and many devices have a USB or CompactFlash slot holding backups. Certificates and SSH host keys live in secure storage that a config erase may not touch.
The reliable test is to erase, reload, and confirm the device comes up asking for initial setup. If it comes back with your hostname, it did not erase.
For firewalls, treat it like a server rather than a switch. They commonly carry an internal SSD with traffic logs, URL caches and sometimes captured content, which is a far richer record than a configuration file.
Erase the startup configuration and reload, then confirm the device comes up at initial setup rather than with your hostname. That alone is not always enough: archived configurations, crash dumps and firmware images sit in internal flash, so format that as well, and remove anything in a USB or CompactFlash slot. Delete installed certificates and SSH host keys explicitly, since they may survive a configuration erase.
It varies by vendor and by licence type, and it is one of the main reasons two identical units fetch different prices. Some licences are tied to the hardware and travel with it, others are tied to the original owner or to an active support contract and lapse on resale. Check before you sell, because a unit that resells with its feature set intact is worth significantly more.
Because it is still claimed to your organisation's dashboard. Cloud-managed access points, switches and security appliances remain bound to the account that registered them until they are explicitly released, and a claimed device cannot be used by anyone else. Unclaiming them in your dashboard before disposal restores the value and also removes the devices from your own account.
Only if you have a use for them, because they carry real value and often sell for more than the switch itself. If you are keeping them, say so when you ask for a quote, since the offer assumes what is in the unit. If you have no use for them, leaving them in will usually get you more than the switch alone.
Yes, with the caveat that they need treating as data-bearing devices rather than as network hardware. Firewalls commonly carry an internal SSD holding traffic logs, URL caches and sometimes captured content, so that drive is wiped to NIST SP 800-88 or destroyed and documented like any server drive.
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