# Cisco

> The company that makes much of the network gear connecting offices to the internet.

- Level: Basic
- Topics: Tech companies, Networks
- URL: https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/cisco/
- In Spanish: [Cisco](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/es/cisco/)

**Cisco Systems** was founded in 1984 by Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, who worked on Stanford University's computer networks, and is based in San Jose, California. Its first products were routers, the boxes that pass data between different networks, and it grew with the internet itself in the 1990s. Today much of the equipment inside corporate offices, universities, internet providers and data centers carries its name.

Its main business is **networking hardware**: routers, **switches** (which connect the computers, phones and printers inside a building), Wi-Fi access points and firewalls. Around that it sells software and services: tools to manage thousands of devices from the cloud (its Meraki line), security products, the **Webex** video-conferencing service and, since buying Splunk, software for collecting and searching logs and security events.

It makes money from selling equipment and, more and more, from software licenses, subscriptions and support contracts. Cisco has also shaped the profession: its certifications, such as the **CCNA**, are a common first step for network engineers, and its Networking Academy teaches networking in schools and universities around the world.

## An analogy

A company that builds the roads, junctions and traffic lights for data. You rarely see its name, but most office traffic passes through its intersections on the way out to the internet.

## Keep in mind

- Founded in 1984 by Stanford network engineers; grew with the internet.
- Makes routers, switches, Wi-Fi access points and firewalls for businesses and providers.
- Also sells security software, Webex and, through Splunk, log analytics.
- Its CCNA certification is a classic entry point for network engineers.

## Go deeper

- [Cisco company overview (Cisco newsroom)](https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/r/newsroom/en/us/company.html)
- [Cisco on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco)
- [Cisco Networking Academy](https://www.netacad.com/)

## Related terms

- [Router](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/router/): The box that connects your devices to each other and to the internet.
- [Internet](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/internet/): A worldwide network of networks that lets any connected device reach any other.
- [ISP](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/isp/): The company you pay to connect your home or phone to the internet.
- [Data center](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/data-center/): A building full of servers where the internet, the cloud and AI actually run.
- [Wi-Fi](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/wi-fi/): Networking over radio waves: the internet without the cable, within a few rooms.
- [Firewall](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/firewall/): A gatekeeper that decides which network traffic gets in or out.
- [Cloud computing](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/cloud-computing/): Renting computers over the internet instead of buying your own.