Subsequent Events	12 Months Ended
Oct. 27, 2012
Subsequent Events [Abstract]
Subsequent Events	Subsequent Events On November 6, 2012, California voters approved California Proposition 39 which revised certain provisions of the California State Tax Code, requiring mandatory single sales factor apportionment in California for most multi-state taxpayers for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2013. Brocade currently expects that in fiscal year 2013 and beyond, Brocade's income subject to tax in California will be lower than under prior tax law and that Brocade's California deferred tax assets are, therefore, less likely to be realized. As a result, during the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, Brocade will record a charge of up to $78.0 million to reduce its previously recognized California deferred tax assets. This charge will not impact cash tax outlays and conformance to the new California apportionment rules is not expected to have a material impact on Brocade's future tax provision. On November 9, 2012, Brocade paid $45.0 million and completed its acquisition of Vyatta Inc. (“Vyatta”), the developer of software-based network operating system that is relevant for multiple applications in network virtualization, software-defined networking (“SDN”) and private/public cloud computing platforms, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Brocade. This acquisition complements Brocade investments in Ethernet fabrics and SDN, and enables Brocade to pursue new market opportunities in data center virtualization, public cloud, enterprise virtual private cloud, and managed services. Due to the limited time since the acquisition date, the initial accounting and purchase price allocation for this acquisition is incomplete as of December 14, 2012. Brocade does not consider the acquisition of Vyatta to be material to its results of operations and is therefore not presenting pro-forma financial information of combined operations.

Subsequent Events

On November 6, 2012, California voters approved California Proposition 39 which revised certain provisions of the California State Tax Code, requiring mandatory single sales factor apportionment in California for most multi-state taxpayers for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2013. Brocade currently expects that in fiscal year 2013 and beyond, Brocade's income subject to tax in California will be lower than under prior tax law and that Brocade's California deferred tax assets are, therefore, less likely to be realized. As a result, during the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, Brocade will record a charge of up to $78.0 million to reduce its previously recognized California deferred tax assets. This charge will not impact cash tax outlays and conformance to the new California apportionment rules is not expected to have a material impact on Brocade's future tax provision.

On November 9, 2012, Brocade paid $45.0 million and completed its acquisition of Vyatta Inc. (“Vyatta”), the developer of software-based network operating system that is relevant for multiple applications in network virtualization, software-defined networking (“SDN”) and private/public cloud computing platforms, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Brocade. This acquisition complements Brocade investments in Ethernet fabrics and SDN, and enables Brocade to pursue new market opportunities in data center virtualization, public cloud, enterprise virtual private cloud, and managed services. Due to the limited time since the acquisition date, the initial accounting and purchase price allocation for this acquisition is incomplete as of December 14, 2012. Brocade does not consider the acquisition of Vyatta to be material to its results of operations and is therefore not presenting pro-forma financial information of combined operations.