Anyone know where to get some clean Visio stencils for Network gear? I got tired of using the Cisco PPT and 3015 packs.
It will cost you some dough, but Netzoom (http://www.netzoom.com/home/index.aspx) has nice stencils. I think this runs us about $1200/year. Well worth it in my opinion.
There is also Visiocafe (http://www.visiocafe.com/) as well but I doubt you will find anything as nice as Netzoom.
The Cisco ones from VSDFX are what you need:
http://www.visiocafe.com/vsdfx.htm
(http://www.visiocafe.com/images/VSDfx-Symbols3d_view.png)
8)
Damn, mmcgurty beat me to it
Nice, thanks for that link. Those look good!
The Network Symbols 3D is exactly what I was looking for! :excited:
the official Cisco Visio Stencils are here:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/visio-stencil-listing.html
Yea, I have those. I was looking for a more generic set.
I just use MSPaint and that leads to other people getting assigned with doing the network drawings.
Quote from: deanwebb on January 08, 2015, 11:22:29 AM
I just use MSPaint and that leads to other people getting assigned with doing the network drawings.
Glad to see you've moved up from cocktail napkins.
I use the ones that Stretch mentioned ages ago. Otherwise i use boxes with some customer connector points.]
The third option which i use the most is an icon inside a box with custom connector points around the outside which are percentage based so resizing doesn't ruin things.
yeah i hate stencils. They never line up right and it all just gets messy once the diagram get complex. Boxes and circles for everything with device details in the center.
But not everyone likes this so I understand.
Quote from: that1guy15 on January 09, 2015, 09:21:23 AM
But not everyone likes this so I understand.
After a while people end up here. It's only a matter of time.
Quote from: Network2501 on January 09, 2015, 10:09:38 AM
Quote from: that1guy15 on January 09, 2015, 09:21:23 AM
But not everyone likes this so I understand.
After a while people end up here. It's only a matter of time.
In visio you can add properties to your shape that you can use instead of boxes. Its great if you start using any VBA to process data behind it. I use it for process analysis.
I hear yah but I try as hard as possible to keep it simple.
Its like pulling teeth to get any team to update documentation even more so if its complex.
At some point you realise the cute pictures are just that and aren't needed any more. Does having X cuteness help me convey Y information? No, no it doesn't and suddenly boxes become your go to.
Not everyone will agree with this and maybe one day you will but it's a record I've heard play many times and people arrive at the same place.
Our management expects a certain ratio of cuteness:geekiness in a report.
They're the diagrams that don't matter ;)
Edit: to techs..
On a more serious note, we do like images that match the front of the gear so that new guys find it easy to identify the stuff. Having a 6509 image as opposed to a 4507 image makes for rather smooth-looking low-level design visios.
To be sure, having the host names and IP addresses by the pictures is best of all.
Quote from: deanwebb on January 10, 2015, 08:31:48 AM
Our management expects a certain ratio of cuteness:geekiness in a report.
Funny you say that. At least once a month a I have a meeting over color used in some of my reports...
Ugh.... I hate physical stencils used for logical diagrams.. makes my skin crawl. EDIT - They're for cabling diagram/rack elevations.... leave them there.
I've gotten to the point I just draw boxes now and list the model number in them...
EDIT - Haha, just read through the first posts in this thread - seems I'm not alone.
I've moved away from visio, myself. In their 2010 version, I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out their dynamic connectors. So I've moved to inkscape and manually draw the connectors. It's a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it's quite easy.
Moving to Visio 2010 was also a bit of a learning curve compared to 2003. I didn't like it at first but it grew on me a bit. As for the dynamic connectors, I just disable that. I draw my maps fairly statically yet keep things connected if I need to move things around to update them later.
Rolling with Visio 2013 here. Also created a custom stencil I use for any diagrams I create for solving issues with custom scale based connector points so resizing stencils doesn't break things. Also having host names and IPs can help at times so there's space above and below the icon.
Come to think of it I could probably get rid of the "router" icon but at times I deal with L2 things.
Quote from: that1guy15 on January 09, 2015, 09:21:23 AM
yeah i hate stencils. They never line up right and it all just gets messy once the diagram get complex. Boxes and circles for everything with device details in the center.
But not everyone likes this so I understand.
Can you give an example of this?
Quote from: config t on September 11, 2015, 05:50:50 AM
Can you give an example of this?
Here's an example using OmniGraffle - I don't use stencils anymore either. They should be left to rack elevation diagrams in my opinion... not necessary in logical diagrams.
Quote from: AspiringNetworker on September 11, 2015, 10:19:32 AM
Quote from: config t on September 11, 2015, 05:50:50 AM
Can you give an example of this?
Here's an example using OmniGraffle - I don't use stencils anymore either. They should be left to rack elevation diagrams in my opinion... not necessary in logical diagrams.
This is how I do it as well. Clean and simple. I like how you denote OSPF and L2/L3 boundry. Cleaner than what I do. I use dashed-lined boxes to group stuff like that.
I've found these stencils very spiffy for high level design and slideware diagrams
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise/design-zone-smart-business-architecture/cvd.html (http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise/design-zone-smart-business-architecture/cvd.html)
I combine them with the vmware sets, looks 'pro' ROFL.
On another note, if I ever see a diagram using the built in Visio network stencil icons, I automatically assume I'm dealing with either a noob or a server guy.
And I agree with That1guy, for complex low level diagrams, boxes with device info in the centre is where its at. You can then squeeze MOAR INFO