When a vendor ends support, the gear keeps running — but firmware fixes, security patches and replacement parts stop. There are five real paths from here. EOSL.ai lays them out straight, with no product to sell you.
Independent maintainers support gear past the OEM cutoff — hardware replacement, break/fix, sometimes better SLAs than the OEM offered. Often a fraction of an OEM renewal.
When it fits: the hardware still does its job and you want to defer a refresh without running unsupported.
Some vendors sell time-limited extended or custom support past standard EOSL. It buys time on the OEM, usually at a premium and not offered for every model.
When it fits: a compliance rule specifically requires the original vendor, or a migration is already scheduled and close.
Buy spares now, while units still circulate on the secondary market, and self-maintain. Pairs well with TPM.
When it fits: low-to-medium-criticality gear you plan to run a while, where a same-day part matters more than a support contract.
Move to a supported platform. The linked EOL bulletin often names the vendor’s recommended successor; every model page here lists it when the vendor published one.
When it fits: the platform is strategic, the hardware is a bottleneck, or the security exposure of running unsupported is unacceptable.
Document the risk, harden backups and monitoring, and retire on your own terms. A deliberate decision — not a default.
When it fits: non-critical, easily-replaced gear where downtime is tolerable and a support contract can’t be justified.
Tell us what you’re running. We’ll reply with source-backed lifecycle detail and the realistic options — no sales pitch, no obligation.
Third-party maintenance (TPM) is hardware support from an independent provider rather than the original manufacturer. After a product reaches end of service life the OEM stops offering support contracts; a TPM provider can keep it covered — break/fix, replacement parts, and often on-site SLAs — typically at a lower cost than the OEM's last renewal.
It can be. After end of service life the vendor stops shipping firmware and security fixes, so newly-found vulnerabilities go unpatched. Compliance frameworks (NIST SP 800-53 SA-22, PCI DSS, ISO 27001) treat unsupported components as a finding. TPM covers hardware failure but does not replace vendor firmware patches — weigh the exposure by how the device is exposed and how critical it is.
Weigh two things: how critical the hardware is, and how much runway it has. Critical + no runway usually means migrate. Still-useful + not strategic usually means TPM or spares to defer cost. Non-critical often means run-to-failure with documented risk. The right answer is per-asset — check your exact part numbers first.
No. EOSL.ai is an independent, source-backed lifecycle database. It sells no hardware or maintenance and lists no paid placements. This page explains the options neutrally; if you ask for help we point you to source-backed information about your specific hardware.