Graphical network documentation tools
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What's everyone's approach for a graphical network and server room documentation?
I'm still using Visio, but TBH, it's a PITA. I know that nearly every vendor offers stencils, but most of them are poor quality. There's a good collection of stencils over at visiocafe.com, but still ... there's always something missing. Be it PDU stencils from vendor A not matching racks from B, missing patch panels or switch stencils and so on. And drawing (lots) of wires in Visio is the best thing I could imagine... right after self-flagellation.
So what's your approach? Any (affordable) alternatives to Visio for a "graphical documentation" of a server room? TBH, I'm looking for something better than Visio for this task. Maybe something where I could even add cables, their numbers and VLANs running over them, for example.
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Dia is another good tool for this. I haven't used it in eons though.
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@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
m looking for something better than Visio for this task. Maybe something where I could even add cables, their numbers and
Definitely not better, but I like it for my needs http://draw.io
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I know both. But they are just alternatives to Visio. Isn't there something more IT related?
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@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I know both. But they are just alternatives to Visio. Isn't there something more IT related?
Due to the expense, I've never looked. Draw.io gives me all I need.
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LibreOffice has Draw which has a lot of functionality too.. Simply to use and is free.
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@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I know both. But they are just alternatives to Visio. Isn't there something more IT related?
So far as I know, it's all things like Visio.
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There are tools that will scan your network and create a map of sorts, but these are often less than useful.
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Hmpf. I guess I will talk to our DC guys. They use some tool, I don't know which one, but I was told it is some special tool for rack and cable documentation.
I bet there is some open source tool that does the same job.
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@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
Hmpf. I guess I will talk to our DC guys. They use some tool, I don't know which one, but I was told it is some special tool for rack and cable documentation.
I bet there is some open source tool that does the same job.
I'd love to find a good tool for this myself.
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@travisdh1 said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
Hmpf. I guess I will talk to our DC guys. They use some tool, I don't know which one, but I was told it is some special tool for rack and cable documentation.
I bet there is some open source tool that does the same job.
I'd love to find a good tool for this myself.
I will post the name and whatever I may find in the open source / low budget area. All you need to feed Google is often just a name.
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@dashrender said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I know both. But they are just alternatives to Visio. Isn't there something more IT related?
Due to the expense, I've never looked. Draw.io gives me all I need.
Just you need to load and save using another storage location which can become cumbersome at times.
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I just want to tour I can click a button or switch type a number of ports and they just put something on the goddamn street I hate Visio and dealing with specifics stencils and all the right things just give me some generic fucking pictures
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@jaredbusch said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I just want to tour I can click a button or switch type a number of ports and they just put something on the goddamn street I hate Visio and dealing with specifics stencils and all the right things just give me some generic fucking pictures
While this is a siri nightmare sentence, I think I agree with JB's gist.
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@dashrender said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@jaredbusch said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I just want to tour I can click a button or switch type a number of ports and they just put something on the goddamn street I hate Visio and dealing with specifics stencils and all the right things just give me some generic fucking pictures
While this is a siri nightmare sentence, I think I agree with JB's gist.
Haha I was wondering what was going on.
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@jaredbusch said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I just want to tour I can click a button or switch type a number of ports and they just put something on the goddamn street I hate Visio and dealing with specifics stencils and all the right things just give me some generic fucking pictures
^ this
Give me a few days, I'll have a meeting with the DC guys soon.
But yes, I'm in the same boat: I would like to click on a VLAN label and see a list of all associated access ports. Or I want to click on a cable and see the patch field number. Can't be this hard. There are some tools out there, like http://demo.racktables.org/ etc. But it looks a little bit like ... eye cancer
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@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@jaredbusch said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I just want to tour I can click a button or switch type a number of ports and they just put something on the goddamn street I hate Visio and dealing with specifics stencils and all the right things just give me some generic fucking pictures
^ this
Give me a few days, I'll have a meeting with the DC guys soon.
But yes, I'm in the same boat: I would like to click on a VLAN label and see a list of all associated access ports. Or I want to click on a cable and see the patch field number. Can't be this hard. There are some tools out there, like http://demo.racktables.org/ etc. But it looks a little bit like ... eye cancer
Sure, but I don't really consider that the same as Visio. That's like saying that notepad is the same as Word, one is a in general basic visual diagram solution, the other is an imbedded data mine with GUI to the data.
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@dashrender said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@jaredbusch said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I just want to tour I can click a button or switch type a number of ports and they just put something on the goddamn street I hate Visio and dealing with specifics stencils and all the right things just give me some generic fucking pictures
^ this
Give me a few days, I'll have a meeting with the DC guys soon.
But yes, I'm in the same boat: I would like to click on a VLAN label and see a list of all associated access ports. Or I want to click on a cable and see the patch field number. Can't be this hard. There are some tools out there, like http://demo.racktables.org/ etc. But it looks a little bit like ... eye cancer
Sure, but I don't really consider that the same as Visio. That's like saying that notepad is the same as Word, one is a in general basic visual diagram solution, the other is an imbedded data mine with GUI to the data.
I've never asked for Visio or similar tools but everyone's way to document their cables and devices
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@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@dashrender said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@thwr said in Graphical network documentation tools:
@jaredbusch said in Graphical network documentation tools:
I just want to tour I can click a button or switch type a number of ports and they just put something on the goddamn street I hate Visio and dealing with specifics stencils and all the right things just give me some generic fucking pictures
^ this
Give me a few days, I'll have a meeting with the DC guys soon.
But yes, I'm in the same boat: I would like to click on a VLAN label and see a list of all associated access ports. Or I want to click on a cable and see the patch field number. Can't be this hard. There are some tools out there, like http://demo.racktables.org/ etc. But it looks a little bit like ... eye cancer
Sure, but I don't really consider that the same as Visio. That's like saying that notepad is the same as Word, one is a in general basic visual diagram solution, the other is an imbedded data mine with GUI to the data.
I've never asked for Visio or similar tools but everyone's way to document their cables and devices
lol I guess you did... but I don't know of many (any off hand) that have an interactive documentation solution like this.
I know Spiceworks has a thing that kinda does this - but it sucks pretty bad and offers little if any ability to edit it to be more accurate.
