Many LAN Administrators had big dreams at one time of keeping elaborate drawings detailing every last aspect of the network. However, networks tend to change too frequently for such drawings to stay current. In spite of the difficulty, having a well documented network can help you solve problems quickly when they arise and is vital to the stable operation of your network.

Define Everything

Perhaps the most important part of a good network documentation plan is to make clear every element: cables, servers, routers, workstations, end user points — everything. You should create a diagram with the idea that the structure of the network will be constantly changing as will the people who use the network.

Each network component and computer should be identified with a short label that should be written so that in few years when you’ve moved on to another job or have totally forgotten about the network project you worked on today, that the placed labels will still make sense.

The labels on your network diagram should not contain building locations or people’s names. For example, creating a label marked — “John’s office printer” is a bad idea, because John could quit tomorrow. Likewise, creating a label marked Finance Manager’s Office printer is a bad idea. This is because in the future, the Marketing Manager could be using the office and network equipment there, or the office could become a small conference room instead of an office. You should also plan for network growth. For example, a printer marked Manager’s Office printer could be misleading if in a few months there are three printers in the manager’s office.

We recommend using of following network information for each device:

1. Name
2. IP address
3. Specific technical details
4. Sharing information
5. Location
6. Support information

If you’re involved in setting up and maintaining a office computer network, you probably already know that ConceptDraw PRO is a great tool to help you with network design and documentation.

ConceptDraw PRO offers more than network diagramming; it’s also a way to manage vital network information. Using custom properties, each shape can store information about the network device it represents. Your network diagrams being managed in this manner will be the most practical application in the ever changing world of networks.