Consolidated Statements Of Cash Flows - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2015	Nov. 01, 2014		Oct. 26, 2013
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$ 340,362	$ 237,971		$ 208,623
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	(48,943)	(64,563)		(3,189)
Non-cash tax charges	0	0		78,206
Depreciation and amortization	84,807	100,647		184,114
Loss on disposal of property and equipment	3,163	5,118		6,709
Gain on sale of network adapter business	0	(4,884)		0
Amortization of debt issuance costs and debt discount	13,715	1,151		1,214
Write-off of debt discount and debt issuance costs related to lenders that did not participate in refinancing	(4,808)	0		(5,360)
Net gain on sale of investments	0	(5,292)		0
Provision for doubtful accounts receivable and sales allowances	5,173	7,563		9,221
Non-cash stock-based compensation expense	88,528	84,914		73,618
Goodwill impairment charge	0	83,382	[1]	0
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
Accounts receivable	(15,989)	17,121		(25,509)
Inventories	(1,805)	6,626		24,173
Prepaid expenses and other assets	(15,844)	(10,984)		(66,001)
Deferred tax assets	234	(887)		4,825
Accounts payable	107	2,339		(28,862)
Accrued employee compensation	(59,703)	(11,382)		(57,859)
Deferred revenue	1,345	8,652		8,599
Other accrued liabilities	50,366	96,376		12,944
Restructuring liabilities	(2,825)	(12,271)		14,843
Net cash provided by operating activities	447,499	541,597		451,029
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of non-marketable equity and debt investments	(2,150)	(223)		0
Proceeds from sale of non-marketable equity investments	1,489	10,798		0
Purchases of property and equipment	(68,743)	(54,734)		(52,371)
Purchase of intangible assets	(7,750)	0		0
Net cash paid in connection with acquisitions	(95,452)	(16,900)		(44,629)
Proceeds from collection of note receivable	250	250		70,000
Proceeds from sale of network adapter business	0	9,995		0
Net cash used in investing activities	(172,356)	(50,814)		(27,000)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from senior unsecured notes	0	0		296,250
Payment of principal related to senior secured notes	(300,000)	0		(300,000)
Payment of debt issuance costs	(1,718)	0		(992)
Payment of principal related to capital leases	(1,818)	(2,485)		(1,627)
Common stock repurchases	(343,686)	(335,380)		(240,000)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	51,376	83,994		93,771
Payment of cash dividends to stockholders	(67,470)	(30,384)		0
Proceeds from convertible notes	565,656	0		0
Purchase of convertible note hedge	(86,135)	0		0
Proceeds from issuance of warrants	51,175	0		0
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	48,943	64,563		3,189
Net cash used in financing activities	(83,677)	(219,692)		(149,409)
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents
Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents	(5,601)	(3,071)		(849)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	185,865	268,020		273,771
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	1,255,017	986,997		713,226
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	1,440,882	1,255,017		986,997
Cash paid for interest
Cash paid for interest	29,560	34,737		39,842
Cash paid for income taxes
Cash paid for income taxes	41,442	22,207		14,493
Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing activities:
Acquisition of property and equipment through capital leases	0	0		1,312
Settlement of debt investment in relation to acquisition	$ 150	$ 0		$ 0

[1] In the second quarter of fiscal year 2014, the Company made a strategic change in the allocation of its engineering resources by reducing its investment in engineering and sales for the hardware-based Brocade ADX products and increasing engineering investment in the software-based Brocade ADX products for Layer 4-7 applications. As a result of this change in strategy, the Company expected hardware-based Brocade ADX and related support revenue to be negatively impacted. Based on these changes in estimates, the Company recognized an impairment charge during the second fiscal quarter of 2014 because the book value of its Application Delivery Products (“ADP”) reporting unit net assets, which includes the Brocade ADX products, exceeded the estimated fair value of these assets. The goodwill amount related to the Company’s other reporting units was not impacted.