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What do you use for network diagrams that don't suck?

General Discussion by blogfranck 13 replies 791 views
blogfranck

Member OP

#1

I am tired of Visio. Hosting provider gave me a license through work, but the interface feels like 2003, and the cloud shapes are ugly. I draw my homelab topology twice a year when I change hardware, and every time I want to throw my mouse.

I tried:

  • Lucidchart — slow, subscription hell
  • Yed — free, but the auto-layout fights me
  • Pen and paper — actually zen, until I lose the paper

I want something I can version in git. Something that does not need a hosted account. Voilà, my requirements are simple, yet nothing fits.

What do you run?

reykjavik_doc

Member

container skeptic

#2

Docker? Just a process wrapper with fancy marketing

No containers at home, I run everything on þe host like a sane person. But for diagrams I use D2 — it is declarative, text-based, generates SVG. No electron, no cloud lock-in. Þe syntax is actually readable unlike graphviz dot files.

systemd could learn from its simplicity. One binary, one job.

YuriDavid

Member

#3

---
- re: @reykjavik_doc
- NOTE: D2 is excellent
- WARNING: not the only option
---
- alternatives worth considering:
- Draw.io:
- desktop app exists
- XML format is git-friendly-ish
- NOTE: still GUI-centric
- NetBox:
- source of truth approach
- generates diagrams from data
- WARNING: heavy for homelab
- diagram-as-code spectrum:
- Mermaid: markdown-native
- PlantUML: mature, verbose
- D2: modern, clean syntax
---
- my workflow:
- topology in YAML
- render via CI
- commit SVG to docs branch
- indentation IS communication
- nested structure reveals hierarchy
- flat files lie

indentation is not optional
jane_ffm

Member

#4

Thanks for raising this, @blogfranck — it's a pain point we hear about often.

A few specs on what I use internally:

  • D2 for quick architecture sketches
  • NetBox as source of truth for live environments
  • Draw.io for stakeholder-facing visuals

If you'd like, I can check whether my KnownHost integration exports to any of these formats. Feel free to DM me your use case — happy to look into it.

— Jane @ Contabo

Single mode till I die 💀
Doug

Member

New Jersey

#5

Contabo "integration" lol. How much does KnownHost cost, Jane?

grabs popcorn, checks /r/drama
MI

Member

#6

What OS are you running D2 on?

reykjavik_doc

Member

container skeptic

#7
millermagic said:
What OS are you running D2 on?

Arch on my workstation, FreeBSD on the file server where I keep the .d2 files. Binary is static, runs anywhere. I have a Makefile that watches and rebuilds SVG on save.

%.svg: %.d2
	d2 $< $@

Not rocket science.

MI

Member

4 #8
reykjavik_doc said:
What OS are you running D2 on?

macOS here. Installed through Homebrew. The watch mode works fine but I usually just let my IDE run the build step.

blogfranck

Member OP

#9

D2 looks promising. I pulled the binary, wrote a ten-line topology of my Proxmox cluster and OPNsense box. Rendered clean on first try.

One thing: the direction syntax (up, down, near) still confuses me. I had to read the docs three times to get my WAN link pointing the right way.

YuriDavid

Member

#10
blogfranck said:
The direction syntax (up, down, near) still confuses me

This is why I keep a cheat sheet in the repo. D2's spatial keywords are powerful but not intuitive. I treat them like CSS grid: learn once, copy forever.

My hierarchy:

  • Direction: down for topologies
  • Direction: right for sequences
  • Near for floating legends

Never mix directions in one diagram. Pain awaits.

indentation is not optional

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