Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a married couple who worked as computer
operations stave members at Stanford University, later joined by
Richard Troiano, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Lerner moved on
to direct java docs at Schlumberger, stirring occupied for the nonce at once to
Cisco in 1987. The name "Cisco" was derived from the municipality luminary,
San Francisco, which is why the presence's engineers insisted on
using the lower if it happens "cisco" in the near the start days. For Cisco's pre-eminent
offering, Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software originally
written some years in the vanguard on William Yeager, another Stanford employee
who later joined Bronze knick-knacks Microsystems. The assemblage's foremost CEO was Banknote
Graves, who held the placement from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, John Morgridge
was appointed CEO, and succeeded in 1995 past John Chambers.

While Cisco was not the original convention to develop and push a router, it
was identical of the sooner to peddle commercially successful routers supporting
multiple network protocols. As the Internet Protocol Safe became everywhere
adopted, the note of multi-protocol routing declined. Today, Cisco's
largest routers are primarily reach-me-down to transport IP packets.

On February 16 1990, the assemblage went following (with a market capitalization
of $224 million) and was listed on the Nasdaq reservoir exchange. On August 28, 1990,
Lerner was fired; upon hearing the news, Bosack resigned to show his shore up in compensation her.
Bosack and his old lady walked away from Cisco with $170 million, 70% of which was
committed to charities. The two later divorced.

Cisco acquired a medley of companies to bring out in products and proclivity into the
company. In 1995-1996 the assemblage completed 11 acquisitions. A number of acquisitions,
such as Stratacom, were the biggest deals in the effort when they occurred.
During the Internet blast in 1999, the friends acquired Cerent Corporation,
a start-up firm located in Petaluma, California, representing fro US$7 billion.
It was the most up-market acquisition made nearby Cisco to latest, and at best the
purchase of Precise Atlanta has been larger. Several acquired companies
have grown into $1Bn+ subject units in the service of Cisco, including LAN switching,
Adventurousness Bring up as a remainder Internet Usage (VOIP), and refuge networking. Cisco
acquired Linksys in 2003.

In dilatory March 2000, at the apex of the dot-com increase, Cisco ios was the most
valuable company in the the world at large, with a vend capitalization of more than
US$500 billion. In July 2009, with a market lid of about US$108.03 billion,
it is still united of the most valuable companies.

The circle was a 2002-03 legatee of the Ron Brown Present, a U.S.
presidential honor to pay respect companies "in search the exemplary quality
of their relationships with employees and communities".