[AusNOG] Diagramming Networks in 2022 - Should it be this hard?

[Jason Leschnik]

Hi everyone,

Frustration has gotten the better of me, hence the post. Sorry if this
isn't 100% relevant, I thought about posting on Reddit but find sometimes
the replies are a bit of a dumpster fire.

We're using Visio and some very basic templating practices (common symbols,
guidelines for link color/type & styles). But every time I jump into our
diagrams, I'm always frustrated with how tedious it is to use Visio
(possible lack of skill?) and how rigid the tool is. Moving a device/adding
a new site, effectively means getting out the scissors and glue and
spending an afternoon like an artisan redrawing and reflowing links. I
understand there are other tools out there, draw.io/lucid which are better
but still all take time and some artistic flare.

Possibly this is due to a mix of how we're using connectors (some in
our team are just reverting to using simple lines now to avoid the
connector reflow madness). But things like labels on links, having to chase
them around the page manually, and diagrams that are difficult to read
because of lack of room. Surely we're doing it the hard way?

Does anyone have examples of their "real world" diagrams (redacted of
course!) to show how they do this better? All the Google-Fu I do on the
subject just brings me to those "edgy" isometric Network diagrams that are
used in marketing slideware.

*tl;dr* looking for practical Network diagram styles so I can use some of
the themes in our diagrams.

Attached sample, moving anything around in this small area requires a few
hours to rework everything. It shouldn't be this hard right?

[image: image.png]
Regards,
Jason.
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