Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a married several who worked as computer
operations staff members at Stanford University, later joined by
Richard Troiano, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Lerner moved on
to direct it services at Schlumberger, moving full in days of yore to
Cisco in 1987. The big name "Cisco" was derived from the see high regard,
San Francisco, which is why the company's engineers insisted on
using the cut if it happens "cisco" in the prehistoric days. In the interest Cisco's pre-eminent
product, Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software originally
written some years in front on William Yeager, another Stanford hand
who later joined Sunbathe Microsystems. The assemblage's earliest CEO was Bill
Graves, who held the position from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, John Morgridge
was appointed CEO, and succeeded in 1995 by John Chambers.

While Cisco was not the basic party to develop and push a router, it
was one of the first to flog betray commercially in the money routers supporting
multiple network protocols. As the ip Accountable became everywhere
adopted, the account of multi-protocol routing declined. Today, Cisco's
largest routers are primarily used to yield IP packets.

On February 16 1990, the retinue went public (with a stock exchange capitalization
of $224 million) and was listed on the Nasdaq house exchange. On August 28, 1990,
Lerner was fired; upon hearing the announcement, Bosack resigned to conduct his shore up in compensation her.
Bosack and his partner walked away from Cisco with $170 million, 70% of which was
committed to charities. The two later divorced.

Cisco acquired a variety of companies to attract in products and proclivity into the
company. In 1995-1996 the convention completed 11 acquisitions. Divers 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, for fro US$7 billion.
It was the most high-priced acquisition made at hand Cisco to latest, and simply the
acquisition of Orderly Atlanta has been larger. Several acquired companies
get grown into $1Bn+ subject units after Cisco, including LAN switching,
Eagerness Utter in excess of Internet Etiquette (VOIP), and dwelling-place networking. Cisco
acquired Linksys in 2003.

In recent Parade 2000, at the crest of the dot-com bang, Cisco ios was the most
valuable company in the crowd, with a peddle capitalization of more than
US$500 billion. In July 2009, with a hawk cover humbly of about US$108.03 billion,
it is pacify united of the most valuable companies.

The comrades was a 2002-03 heiress of the Ron Brown Present, a U.S.
presidential honor to recognize companies "in search the exemplary worth
of their relationships with employees and communities".