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                                                                    EXHIBIT 20.1


CISCO COMPLETES THE ACQUISITION OF CERENT CORPORATION

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- November 1, 1999 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced it
has completed the acquisition of Cerent Corporation of Petaluma, CA.

On August 26, 1999, Cisco announced a definitive agreement to acquire
privately-held Cerent, a leading developer of next-generation optical transport
products. Under the terms of the agreement, shares of Cisco common stock were
exchanged for all outstanding shares, options and warrants of Cerent not
currently owned by Cisco. The transaction will be accounted for as a pooling of
interests.

CISCO SYSTEMS

CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the
Internet. For more information visit Cisco PR Contacts

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Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of
Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective
owners. This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future
events or results. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Cisco with the
SEC, specifically the most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, which identify
important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements, including potential fluctuations in
quarterly results, dependence on new product development, rapid technological
and market change, acquisition strategy, manufacturing risks, risks associated
with the Internet infrastructure, volatility of stock price, financial risk
management and future growth subject to risks.

