Guarantor And Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries (Schedule Of Condensed Consolidated Statement Of Income) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Nov. 01, 2014	Aug. 02, 2014	May 03, 2014	Jan. 25, 2014	Oct. 26, 2013	Jul. 27, 2013	Apr. 27, 2013	Jan. 26, 2013	Nov. 01, 2014	Oct. 26, 2013	Oct. 27, 2012
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Revenues									$ 2,211,267	$ 2,222,864	$ 2,237,770
Intercompany revenues									0	0	0
Total net revenues	564,358	545,464	536,910	564,535	558,800	536,551	538,784	588,729	2,211,267	2,222,864	2,237,770
Cost of revenues									745,474	813,985	854,751
Intercompany cost of revenues									0	0	0
Total cost of revenues									745,474	813,985	854,751
Gross margin	377,118	361,713	354,292	372,670	362,640	338,202	334,112	373,925	1,465,793	1,408,879	1,383,019
Operating expenses									1,079,681	1,100,396	1,105,290
Intercompany operating expenses (income)									0	0	0
Total operating expenses									1,079,681	1,100,396	1,105,290
Income from operations	126,530	117,897	20,195	121,490	83,650	74,363	57,179	93,291	386,112	308,483	277,729
Other income (expense)									(32,491)	21,978	(53,328)
Income before income tax									353,621	330,461	224,401
Income tax expense									115,650	121,838	29,220
Equity in net earnings (losses) of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net income									237,971	208,623	195,181
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Revenues									1,284,672	1,347,055	1,409,705
Intercompany revenues									26,978	25,507	44,152
Total net revenues									1,311,650	1,372,562	1,453,857
Cost of revenues									488,787	534,699	559,835
Intercompany cost of revenues									(57,403)	(58,050)	(35,070)
Total cost of revenues									431,384	476,649	524,765
Gross margin									880,266	895,913	929,092
Operating expenses									866,389	826,239	827,318
Intercompany operating expenses (income)									(188,300)	(127,997)	(138,197)
Total operating expenses									678,089	698,242	689,121
Income from operations									202,177	197,671	239,971
Other income (expense)									(32,134)	25,481	(49,470)
Income before income tax									170,043	223,152	190,501
Income tax expense									108,729	117,654	20,432
Equity in net earnings (losses) of subsidiaries									176,657	103,516	25,112
Net income									237,971	209,014	195,181
Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Revenues									1,978	4,257	4,685
Intercompany revenues									0	0	0
Total net revenues									1,978	4,257	4,685
Cost of revenues									8,503	38,991	49,935
Intercompany cost of revenues									0	0	0
Total cost of revenues									8,503	38,991	49,935
Gross margin									(6,525)	(34,734)	(45,250)
Operating expenses									7,241	34,175	56,838
Intercompany operating expenses (income)									(30,515)	(22,443)	(27,319)
Total operating expenses									(23,274)	11,732	29,519
Income from operations									16,749	(46,466)	(74,769)
Other income (expense)									5,930	258	4
Income before income tax									22,679	(46,208)	(74,765)
Income tax expense									0	1,190	0
Equity in net earnings (losses) of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net income									22,679	(47,398)	(74,765)
Non- Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Revenues									924,617	871,552	823,380
Intercompany revenues									14,953	22,123	21,709
Total net revenues									939,570	893,675	845,089
Cost of revenues									241,944	232,807	234,889
Intercompany cost of revenues									99,334	105,680	100,931
Total cost of revenues									341,278	338,487	335,820
Gross margin									598,292	555,188	509,269
Operating expenses									212,291	247,470	231,226
Intercompany operating expenses (income)									218,815	150,440	165,516
Total operating expenses									431,106	397,910	396,742
Income from operations									167,186	157,278	112,527
Other income (expense)									(6,287)	(3,370)	(3,862)
Income before income tax									160,899	153,908	108,665
Income tax expense									6,921	2,994	8,788
Equity in net earnings (losses) of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net income									153,978	150,914	99,877
Consolidating Adjustments
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions
Revenues									0	0	0
Intercompany revenues									(41,931)	(47,630)	(65,861)
Total net revenues									(41,931)	(47,630)	(65,861)
Cost of revenues									6,240	7,488	10,092
Intercompany cost of revenues									(41,931)	(47,630)	(65,861)
Total cost of revenues									(35,691)	(40,142)	(55,769)
Gross margin									(6,240)	(7,488)	(10,092)
Operating expenses									(6,240)	(7,488)	(10,092)
Intercompany operating expenses (income)									0	0	0
Total operating expenses									(6,240)	(7,488)	(10,092)
Income from operations									0	0	0
Other income (expense)									0	(391)	0
Income before income tax									0	(391)	0
Income tax expense									0	0	0
Equity in net earnings (losses) of subsidiaries									(176,657)	(103,516)	(25,112)
Net income									$ (176,657)	$ (103,907)	$ (25,112)