I'm looking for insights on how businesses manage to document their network architecture. Currently, I'm working on creating network diagrams designed to provide a clear picture of our subscriptions, resources, policies, and configurations. However, with nearly 2000 resources to document, I want to ensure that the diagrams interlink logically. Additionally, I need a system that's easy to update, maybe by sharing diagram templates and scheduling regular architecture reviews to catch any changes. In the future, I plan to use this documentation to support IAM overviews, ensuring we grant the least amount of privileges necessary. I've noticed that our existing documentation feels like it was made by an outsider, even though it came from an architect. Azure offers some visualization tools, but they don't quite meet my needs. My goal is to develop diagrams similar to those in academic resources to facilitate better understanding of architectural decisions. As I'm new to the organization and Azure, I want to grasp the entire environment thoroughly, including all dependencies involved in processes.
5 Answers
You might find the Azure resource inventory helpful as a foundational tool for your documentation efforts. It's a starting point to understand what's already there!
We document our architecture using a mix of Visio files, random OneNote notes, and some Excel spreadsheets, but honestly, it's a bit chaotic. Our docs often land in odd places like someone’s temp folder or my email outbox! I think organizing these files better would go a long way in making them usable.
Seriously! This is the type of chaos we all face. It's all about finding what works for your team.
If your infrastructure is managed via Terraform, then using `terraform graph` is a game changer for generating diagrams. You can beautify them afterward or tweak them as needed. But I get it if you're not using Terraform though—definitely a powerful tool if you can implement it!
I wish we could use Terraform! Definitely good to know about that option.
You could log into AZCLI with a read-only credential and leverage GitHub Copilot to introspect your deployed resources. Tools like Excalidraw can also help visualize topologies easily. Just remember to stick with scoped credentials!
You should definitely consider having clearer naming conventions for your Visio files, like avoiding the 'Final' tag since people always end up using the wrong version!