Network diagram
A network diagram is a visual representation of computer or organizational networks, showing devices (nodes) and the connections (edges) between them.
In depth
Network diagrams come in two main flavors: physical (showing actual hardware — routers, switches, servers, firewalls) and logical (showing IP subnets, VLANs, security boundaries). They're essential for capacity planning, incident response, and compliance documentation.
Variants include topology diagrams (star, mesh, tree, hybrid), Visio-style enterprise network maps, and cloud architecture diagrams (AWS VPC, GCP project graph). Larger networks benefit from layered diagrams with collapsible groups for each region or VLAN.
OpenCharts supports network-diagram-style node types with custom icons, group containers for VLANs/subnets, and arrows for trust boundaries.
Also known as
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System context diagram
A system context diagram is a high-level architecture diagram that shows a system as a single box at the center, surrounded by the people and external systems it interacts with.
Data flow diagram
A data flow diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation of how data moves through a system, showing data sources, processes, data stores, and external entities.
UML
UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a standardized family of diagrams used in software engineering to model systems, including class, sequence, activity, state, and use-case diagrams.