Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 29, 2017	Jul. 30, 2016	Jul. 29, 2017	Jul. 30, 2016
Net revenues:
Product	$ 449,549,000	$ 490,995,000	$ 1,385,273,000	$ 1,400,355,000
Service	99,717,000	99,726,000	298,209,000	287,956,000
Total net revenues	549,266,000	590,721,000	1,683,482,000	1,688,311,000
Cost of revenues:
Product	154,760,000	188,492,000	486,153,000	464,797,000
Service	43,361,000	45,330,000	136,301,000	127,489,000
Total cost of revenues	198,121,000	233,822,000	622,454,000	592,286,000
Gross margin	351,145,000	356,899,000	1,061,028,000	1,096,025,000
Operating expenses:
Research and development	117,116,000	114,996,000	360,164,000	297,516,000
Sales and marketing	153,712,000	167,983,000	506,228,000	468,743,000
General and administrative	27,614,000	32,960,000	92,127,000	78,180,000
Settlement with dissenting stockholder of Ruckus Wireless, Inc.	8,528,000	0	8,528,000	0
Amortization of intangible assets	5,822,000	5,498,000	20,998,000	7,302,000
Acquisition, divestiture, and integration costs	13,246,000	14,868,000	49,519,000	20,625,000
Restructuring charges (benefits)	17,801,000	0	17,801,000	(566,000)
Impairment of equity investments	2,870,000	0	2,870,000	0
Loss on sold and held for sale software product lines	24,315,000	0	24,315,000	0
Total operating expenses	371,024,000	336,305,000	1,082,550,000	871,800,000
Income (loss) from operations	(19,879,000)	20,594,000	(21,522,000)	224,225,000
Interest expense	(15,875,000)	(13,462,000)	(47,317,000)	(33,282,000)
Interest and other income, net	2,580,000	1,557,000	5,136,000	3,317,000
Income (loss) before income tax	(33,174,000)	8,689,000	(63,703,000)	194,260,000
Income tax expense (benefit)	(13,622,000)	(1,806,000)	(27,275,000)	47,034,000
Net income (loss)	(19,552,000)	10,495,000	(36,428,000)	147,226,000
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	(46,000)	0.00	(274,000)	0.00
Net income (loss) attributable to Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.	$ (19,506,000)	$ 10,495,000	$ (36,154,000)	$ 147,226,000
Net income (loss) per share—basic attributable to Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. stockholders	$ (0.05)	$ 0.02	$ (0.09)	$ 0.36
Net income (loss) per share—diluted attributable to Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. stockholders	$ (0.05)	$ 0.02	$ (0.09)	$ 0.35
Shares used in per share calculation—basic	411,898	426,671	408,494	411,709
Shares used in per share calculation—diluted	411,898	434,416	408,494	419,416
Cash dividends declared per share	$ 0.055	$ 0.055	$ 0.165	$ 0.145