Interest and Other Income (Loss), net	9 Months Ended
Jul. 27, 2013
Other Income and Expenses [Abstract]
Other Income and Other Expense Disclosure, Nonoperating	Interest and Other Income (Loss), netOn May 20, 2013, Brocade and A10 Networks, Inc. (“A10”) reached an agreement to settle both the lawsuit that Brocade filed against A10, A10’s founder and other individuals in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on August 4, 2010, and the lawsuit that A10 filed against Brocade on September 9, 2011, along with all related claims as described in Note 9, “Commitments and Contingencies - Intellectual Property Litigation,” of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.Among other agreed upon terms, A10 has granted the Company a broad patent license and agreed to pay the Company $5.0 million in cash and issued a $70.0 million unsecured convertible promissory note payable to the Company. The note bears interest at 8% per annum and is due and payable on demand at any time after January 22, 2014. The note may be prepaid at any time, but if the note is not paid in full within 90 days of its issuance, then the Company will receive warrants to purchase A10 preferred shares and will receive additional warrants every 30 days thereafter that the note is not paid in full. A10 also has agreed not to use any of the versions of source code that were found to infringe any of Brocade's copyrights, patents or trade secrets, except as necessary to service prior versions of product already sold to and in the possession of A10's customers. In addition, the settlement provides certain mutual covenants not to sue for various periods of time and certain general releases.Based on the fair value of the consideration received as a result of this settlement, the Company recognized a gain of $76.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013, which is reported within “Interest and Other Income (Loss), net” in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income for the three and nine months ended July 27, 2013.The unsecured convertible promissory note was reported within “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of July 27, 2013. The current and non-current portion of the $1.8 million in fair value of certain licensing rights granted to the Company as part of the settlement were reported within “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” and “Other assets,” respectively, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of July 27, 2013.

Interest and Other Income (Loss), net

9 Months Ended

Jul. 27, 2013

Other Income and Expenses [Abstract]

Other Income and Other Expense Disclosure, Nonoperating

Interest and Other Income (Loss), netOn May 20, 2013, Brocade and A10 Networks, Inc. (“A10”) reached an agreement to settle both the lawsuit that Brocade filed against A10, A10’s founder and other individuals in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on August 4, 2010, and the lawsuit that A10 filed against Brocade on September 9, 2011, along with all related claims as described in Note 9, “Commitments and Contingencies - Intellectual Property Litigation,” of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.Among other agreed upon terms, A10 has granted the Company a broad patent license and agreed to pay the Company $5.0 million in cash and issued a $70.0 million unsecured convertible promissory note payable to the Company. The note bears interest at 8% per annum and is due and payable on demand at any time after January 22, 2014. The note may be prepaid at any time, but if the note is not paid in full within 90 days of its issuance, then the Company will receive warrants to purchase A10 preferred shares and will receive additional warrants every 30 days thereafter that the note is not paid in full. A10 also has agreed not to use any of the versions of source code that were found to infringe any of Brocade's copyrights, patents or trade secrets, except as necessary to service prior versions of product already sold to and in the possession of A10's customers. In addition, the settlement provides certain mutual covenants not to sue for various periods of time and certain general releases.Based on the fair value of the consideration received as a result of this settlement, the Company recognized a gain of $76.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013, which is reported within “Interest and Other Income (Loss), net” in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income for the three and nine months ended July 27, 2013.The unsecured convertible promissory note was reported within “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of July 27, 2013. The current and non-current portion of the $1.8 million in fair value of certain licensing rights granted to the Company as part of the settlement were reported within “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” and “Other assets,” respectively, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of July 27, 2013.