Cisco Networking Essentials, 2nd Edition

Chapter 12Managing the Cisco IOS

Cisco routers and switches have operating systems, just as computers have operating systems. The operating system is used to access and manage the hardware on the router or switch and is used as the interface to change and view settings on the device. Although most Cisco devices are now ­capable of being managed through a web interface that presents a graphical user interface (GUI) to the administrator, routers and switches traditionally are managed through the Cisco command-line interface (CLI).

Until recently, Cisco switches could have one of two operating systems installed. The CAT OS, which was inherited when Cisco purchased another switch manufacturer, is being used less and less often. Cisco issued its ...