Guarantor And Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries (Schedule Of Consolidated Statement Of Cash Flows) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Aug. 02, 2014	Jul. 27, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 383,744	$ 281,260
Purchases of property and equipment	(41,175)	(41,949)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	(223)	0
Proceeds from sale of non-marketable equity investment	10,748	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	(20,405)	(86,578)
Payment of principal related to capital leases	(2,382)	(1,536)
Common stock repurchases	(302,560)	(187,360)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	81,293	71,858
Payment of cash dividends to stockholders	(15,270)	0
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	37,698	6,909
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes	0	296,250
Payment of debt issuance costs related to senior unsecured notes	0	(992)
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes	0	(300,000)
Net cash used in financing activities	(201,221)	(114,871)
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	272	(2,944)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	162,390	76,867
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	986,997	713,226
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	1,149,387	790,093
Cash dividends declared per share	$ 0.035	$ 0.000
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	196,642	181,335
Purchases of property and equipment	(32,574)	(35,969)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	(223)
Proceeds from sale of non-marketable equity investment	10,748
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	(18,718)	(80,738)
Payment of principal related to capital leases	(2,382)	(1,536)
Common stock repurchases	(302,560)	(187,360)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	81,293	71,858
Payment of cash dividends to stockholders	(15,270)
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	37,698	6,909
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes		296,250
Payment of debt issuance costs related to senior unsecured notes		(992)
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes		(300,000)
Net cash used in financing activities	(201,221)	(114,871)
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	(23,297)	(14,274)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	396,710	284,466
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	373,413	270,192
Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	(1,017)	2,846
Purchases of property and equipment	0	(23)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	0
Proceeds from sale of non-marketable equity investment	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
Payment of cash dividends to stockholders	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	(1,017)	2,963
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	9,301	680
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	8,284	3,643
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Net cash provided by operating activities	188,119	97,079
Purchases of property and equipment	(8,601)	(5,957)
Purchases of non-marketable equity investments	0
Proceeds from sale of non-marketable equity investment	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	(1,687)	(5,957)
Payment of principal related to capital leases	0	0
Common stock repurchases	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	0	0
Payment of cash dividends to stockholders	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	272	(2,944)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	186,704	88,178
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	580,986	428,080
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	767,690	516,258
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 non-marketable equity investment	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
Payment of cash dividends to stockholders	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