1 Network Diagrams with Microsoft Visio 2003/2007
1.1 Introduction
This guide is written to provide a rapid introduction to using Microsoft Visio to create better network diagrams for data networking. It’s not a tutorial on Visio but demonstrates how to use Visio to make Network Diagrams. It is assumed that you already can use Visio and want to draw better quality and more pleasing diagrams at a faster pace.
The book is a collection of techniques and tips that on Microsoft Visio 2003/2007 and creating Network Diagrams based on 15 years of experience and give you insight on how to make better diagrams for presentation and for ongoing management of those diagrams.
Visio is the standard tool for Enterprises to document networks, and for many companies, the only available documentation is a diagram. Importantly, a diagram is probably the one thing that your management will see and understand.
Knowing quality techniques for getting things done fast and well in Visio is good for how you are seen by your manager and your peers.
Not Advanced but not for Newbies.
This is not a starters guide or beginners guide. It is expected that you would already be using Visio and be making your own network diagrams and know how to perform the usual drawing, editing and saving functions. It would also be suitable for people who want to draw quicker in Visio, or get better diagrams but would have a technical focus.
This guide is an everyday collection when drawing Visio. It is not an introduction to Visio, it just some ideas on drawing Network Diagrams from someone who has done a lot of it, and tried to find good techniques to get a good looking drawing done as quickly as possible.
While some attempt has been made to make the material a linear progression from simple and building up to more complicated, there are many tips and notes within the content where it is relevant. I would think that there is something here for everyone.
About the Author
Greg Ferro is an independent freelance Network Architect and Engineer, currently based in the UK and working for a number of large and medium organisations. He has over 20 years experience in IT and more than 10 years in networking. The last 5 years has been spent working extensively in security and application networking as an Network Architect and Engineer for large corporates and is Cisco CCIE#6920.
Why Read This Book ?
I have been working in Data Network Engineering and Design for about 20 years. Over that time I have been using Visio to draw network diagrams for all areas of networking. Originally, it was for implementation, or for documentation and then for the design of the network.
Recently, while working on a diagram, a fellow worker asked me to show him how I did certain things in Visio. I thought this a bit strange at the time, but when other co-workers started asking the same questions I was surprised. I started to blog on some topics for drawing which were enormously popular, but came to the conclusion that small book would address this in the best possible way.
So I wrote this as if I was sitting next to you, showing how to get things done. I have used practical examples, and put all the menu options in and worked through practical examples on how to create diagram elements that are useful for networking. It is highly visual so that you can work through the book very quickly because you need to get things done, not because you want to understand the theory behind it.
I don’t claim that this book is a definitive guide. It’s just the way that I do it and people told me that these tips are good advice. So I wrote it down, and here it is
What is not is this book.
This book is written for at people who work in IT and related roles. The object and elements that are produced are mostly relevant to those people. While it would be relevant to to anyone who is drawing technical diagrams, it would be less useful to people who want to do more artistic or simple Visio work.
I assume that you have some experience in drawing and diagramming, and know your way around the basics of Visio diagrams. If you are a beginner or new to Visio, then this book is not for you. This is not a textbook, but a collection of tips and techniques to draw better and faster.
I also assume that you have good network experience and understand many basic networking concepts. I would suggest that you will also need good commercial experience to make good drawings, but that could not be taught in any book.