Quarterly Summary (Schedule of Quarterly Financial Information) (Details) (USD $) Share data in Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Oct. 26, 2013	Jul. 27, 2013		Apr. 27, 2013	Jan. 26, 2013	Oct. 27, 2012	Jul. 28, 2012	Apr. 28, 2012	Jan. 28, 2012	Oct. 26, 2013	Oct. 27, 2012	Oct. 29, 2011
Selected Quarterly Financial Information
Net revenues	$ 558,800,000	$ 536,551,000		$ 538,784,000	$ 588,729,000	$ 578,357,000	$ 555,332,000	$ 543,439,000	$ 560,642,000	$ 2,222,864,000	$ 2,237,770,000	$ 2,147,442,000
Gross margin	362,640,000	338,202,000		334,112,000	373,925,000	360,690,000	340,478,000	337,082,000	344,769,000	1,408,879,000	1,383,019,000	1,283,534,000
Income from operations	83,650,000	74,363,000		57,179,000	93,291,000	86,320,000	70,221,000	51,769,000	69,419,000	308,483,000	277,729,000	177,520,000
Net income (loss)	64,233,000	118,696,000	[1]	46,949,000	(21,255,000)	54,001,000	43,300,000	39,296,000	58,584,000
Net income (loss) per-share—basic	$ 0.14	$ 0.26	[1]	$ 0.10	$ (0.05)	$ 0.12	$ 0.09	$ 0.09	$ 0.13	$ 0.46	$ 0.43	$ 0.11
Net income (loss) per-share—diluted	$ 0.14	$ 0.26	[1]	$ 0.10	$ (0.05)	$ 0.11	$ 0.09	$ 0.08	$ 0.12	$ 0.45	$ 0.41	$ 0.10
Shares used in per-share calculation—basic	444,642	449,446		453,133	454,843	459,333	457,147	457,541	452,494	450,516	456,629	474,259
Shares used in per-share calculation—diluted	460,237	461,344		466,919	454,843	474,213	469,571	476,848	468,738	463,705	472,343	497,030
Brocade Price Per Share High	$ 8.43	$ 6.69		$ 6.15	$ 5.80	$ 6.44	$ 5.63	$ 6.17	$ 6.05
Brocade Price Per Share Low	$ 6.28	$ 5.14		$ 5.38	$ 5.17	$ 4.83	$ 4.18	$ 5.19	$ 4.15
Quarterly Financial Information, Explanatory Disclosure		The quarter ended July 27, 2013, includes the impact of the nonrecurring gain of $76.8 million resulting from the litigation settlement with A10 Networks, Inc.
Quarterly Financial Information, Explanatory Note, Period		The quarter ended July 27, 2013
Quarterly Financial Information, Quarterly Charges and Credits, Amount Affecting Comparability		$ 76,800,000

[1] The quarter ended July 27, 2013, includes the impact of the nonrecurring gain of $76.8 million resulting from the litigation settlement with A10 Networks, Inc.