Guarantor And Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries (Schedule Of Consolidated Statement Of Cash Flows) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	May 03, 2014	Apr. 27, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 277,713	$ 179,105
Purchases of property and equipment	(27,395)	(31,568)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	(223)	0
Proceeds from sale of network adapter business	9,995	0
Proceeds from collection of note receivable	250	0
Net cash paid in connection with acquisition	0	(44,629)
Net cash used in investing activities	(17,373)	(76,197)
Payment of principal related to capital leases	(1,749)	(975)
Common stock repurchases	(190,432)	(86,179)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	54,530	35,899
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	27,415	5,440
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes	0	296,250
Payment of debt issuance costs related to senior unsecured notes	0	(549)
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes	0	(300,000)
Net cash used in financing activities	(110,236)	(50,114)
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	512	(1,722)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	150,616	51,072
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	986,997	713,226
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	1,137,613	764,298
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	165,349	96,996
Purchases of property and equipment	(23,773)	(27,887)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	(223)
Proceeds from sale of network adapter business	3,081
Proceeds from collection of note receivable	250
Net cash paid in connection with acquisition		(44,769)
Net cash used in investing activities	(20,665)	(72,656)
Payment of principal related to capital leases	(1,749)	(975)
Common stock repurchases	(190,432)	(86,179)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	54,530	35,899
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	27,415	5,440
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes		296,250
Payment of debt issuance costs related to senior unsecured notes		(549)
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes		(300,000)
Net cash used in financing activities	(110,236)	(50,114)
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	34,448	(25,774)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	396,710	284,466
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	431,158	258,692
Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	(898)	2,521
Purchases of property and equipment	0	(23)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	0
Proceeds from sale of network adapter business	0
Proceeds from collection of note receivable	0
Net cash paid in connection with acquisition		140
Net cash used in investing activities	0	117
Payment of principal related to capital leases	0	0
Common stock repurchases	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	0	0
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	0	0
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes		0
Payment of debt issuance costs related to senior unsecured notes		0
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes		0
Net cash used in financing activities	0	0
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	(898)	2,638
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	9,301	680
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	8,403	3,318
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	113,262	79,588
Purchases of property and equipment	(3,622)	(3,658)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	0
Proceeds from sale of network adapter business	6,914
Proceeds from collection of note receivable	0
Net cash paid in connection with acquisition		0
Net cash used in investing activities	3,292	(3,658)
Payment of principal related to capital leases	0	0
Common stock repurchases	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	0	0
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	0	0
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes		0
Payment of debt issuance costs related to senior unsecured notes		0
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes		0
Net cash used in financing activities	0	0
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	512	(1,722)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	117,066	74,208
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	580,986	428,080
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	698,052	502,288
Consolidating Adjustments
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	0	0
Purchases of property and equipment	0	0
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	0
Proceeds from sale of network adapter business	0
Proceeds from collection of note receivable	0
Net cash paid in connection with acquisition		0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	0
Payment of principal related to capital leases	0	0
Common stock repurchases	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	0	0
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	0	0
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes		0
Payment of debt issuance costs related to senior unsecured notes		0
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes		0
Net cash used in financing activities	0	0
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	$ 0	$ 0