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01 What happens to documentation when a vendor goes
Foundry Networks is a clear example. After the Brocade acquisition the documentation tree at /services/documentation/ went dark, links from university wikis and forum threads broke, and copies of configuration guides survived only where someone had saved them. This archive, the Foundry Networks section of this site, links to what it can verify and says so where it cannot. The method generalises to any discontinued hardware line that people still run.
02 Sources ranked by trust
| Source | Trust | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Web-archive capture of the vendor's page | High | Dated, captured by a third party, unchanged since |
| PDF with vendor metadata and a known checksum | High | Matches a copy others hold |
| Forum attachment or reseller mirror | Medium | Often genuine, but may be edited or a different version |
| Summary on a blog or wiki | Low | Useful pointer; check it against a primary copy |
| Chatbot answer about the product | Lead only | May be accurate, may be invented; never a source by itself |
03 Recording provenance
For every document or excerpt, record four things: where the copy came from (URL), when it was captured or retrieved, what it is (title, version, format) and a checksum for files. The W3C PROV model gives a vocabulary for this if you want it machine-readable: the document is an entity, the capture or download is an activity, and the archive or person is the agent. Web archives store captures in the WARC format, which keeps the original HTTP response, headers included, so a capture can be checked years later. A short provenance note under each excerpt, in plain words, is enough for readers.
04 What may be re-hosted
Vendor manuals remain copyrighted by the successor company even when the products are long discontinued. This site does not re-host them. Instead it explains the technology in its own words, gives the configuration shape as a worked example, and points to archived captures where they exist. Short quotations for commentary are a different matter from mirroring a PDF. The IronWare command reference on this site follows that approach: commands and their purpose, written fresh, with the original structure noted.
05 Spotting invented documentation
A new problem sits on top of the old ones. Questions about legacy gear increasingly get answered by language models, and their answers are sometimes copied into forums and blogs as if they came from a manual. Invented documentation has a recognisable shape: specific command options that appear in no captured guide, version numbers that do not match the release history, and fluent explanations with no citation. Check any such claim against a primary copy before relying on it; the method for checking AI answers about legacy IronWare gear sets out the steps, and the Foundry company history gives the release timeline to check dates against.
A copy without a source and a date is a rumour with good formatting. Record both, or say you could not.
06 Questions
Where can I find documentation for discontinued network hardware?
Start with web-archive captures of the vendor's own documentation pages, then successor vendors' legacy support pages, then forum attachments, checking each copy's version and date.
Can I re-host an old vendor manual?
Usually not. Copyright passes to the successor company. Link to archived captures and write your own explanations instead.
How do I record the provenance of a document?
Note the source URL, the capture or retrieval date, the title and version, and a checksum for files. The W3C PROV model offers a formal vocabulary if you need one.
How can I tell if documentation was generated rather than copied from a manual?
Look for command options or version numbers that appear in no primary copy, missing dates and sources, and confident detail nobody else can confirm. Check against an archived original.
What is a WARC file?
The standard container format web archives use to store captured pages together with their original HTTP headers.