7
votes

Over a long time, the network I work with has grown from a couple of servers and a handful of client PCs to a gargantuan beast with the following things configured on the core switch:

  • VLANs - Trunks, access ports and general ports.
  • Several Multiple Spanning Tree instances
  • Lots of subnets
  • Port-Channels

It has become very tricky to communicate this to new members of staff and contractors. A diagram showing the physical components of the network (switches, routers, firewalls, servers etc) only tells a small part of the picture. It's all there in the various configurations, but putting this all together into a picture of our network is a huge challenge. Various people have tried to document all this in Excel and Word docs, but nothing tried so far really seems to give a clear overview effectively.

Simplifying our network is a goal for me, but in order to get there, we need to map where we are now, and where we want to go.

Has anyone got any examples of great network diagrams that show more than simple connectivity and communicate? Not necessarily all of the above in one diagram, but alternative ways of drawing things one might achieve in Viso, or even pencil and paper.

I am not asking for recommendations for this or that bit of software. Some examples of great, inspiring, network diagrams would be most welcome.

6
  • sounds like a dupe ?
    – Sirex
    Jul 22, 2011 at 10:29
  • 2
    It does sound like a dupe; if you can find one, link it and flag.
    – womble
    Jul 22, 2011 at 11:44
  • 1
    There are a lot of similar questions out there - most of the answers are "use Dia" or "use Visio" which kind of misses the point. There is serverfault.com/questions/92106/…, which may have answered my question if the link to the image wasn't broken. I have searched, but not finding questions or answers quite what I am looking for. I am really looking for some example diagrams. Question edited to be more explicit.
    – dunxd
    Jul 22, 2011 at 12:05
  • 1
    ratemynetworkdiagram.com/?i=1318 ;)
    – Daniel B.
    Jul 22, 2011 at 13:42
  • 1
    If you are extensively using vlans then dont try and make one diagram to rule them all. Break it down into seperate usable diagrams that look at it from different perspectives. Eg. hardware, logical, etc
    – JamesRyan
    Jul 22, 2011 at 14:58

3 Answers 3

3
votes

I'd posted the last just as you were making your "don't post that, stupid" edit ;) So ...

have you looked at http://www.ratemynetworkdiagram.com ? There are tons of diagrams there, maybe you can find a few that suit your needs?

http://www.ratemynetworkdiagram.com/?i=10680
http://www.ratemynetworkdiagram.com/?i=17345

You'll probably need several diagrams, linked together in something like the wiki mentioned in Sven's answer.

2
  • That is a great resource I was not aware of. Thanks!
    – dunxd
    Jul 22, 2011 at 15:43
  • Link to networkdocumentation.com from ratemynetwork diagram also looks helpful.
    – dunxd
    Jul 22, 2011 at 15:48
0
votes

I guess the best and most flexible option for this so far is to collect all info in a Wiki which can document various aspects in the most appropriate way and have plenty of links to other pages in the Wiki. With the help of SVG as an image file format, you can even have links in your network diagrams etc.

1
  • It is examples/descriptions of those "most appropriate way"s that I am seeking.
    – dunxd
    Jul 22, 2011 at 12:07
0
votes

One possibility would be to overlay the VLAN assignments onto a physical (well, logical, most probably) network diagram by using colours. Use one colour per VLAN and a different colour (and ideally line width) for trunks, with an info-box detailing the VLANs across the trunk (unless you always pass all VLANs across).

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