How to depict (Professional-Looking) Logical Network Diagrams in Astah

I have always had to create (professional-looking) UML diagrams using Visio-like icons. You’ve got to admit that showing a bunch of boring UML boxes hardly interests anyone less technical (like anyone whose designation has the words “manager” or “director”).

This is actually possible in Astah!

I’ve created a template for future projects that allows me to produce logical network diagrams that look like the following:


image

To create this diagram, you need to do the following:

  1. Assign various icons to stereotypes. I created the following for my use:

image

  1. Create a new UML Deployment Diagram
  2. Every element in the diagram is created as a Node
  3. The nodes are subsequently assigned the appropriate <<stereotype>>. E.g. Internet is <<internet>>, WebZone FW is <<firewall>>, Web LB is <<loadBalancer>>
  4. Ensure the “Icon Notation” is set to “Customized Icon” for each node
  5. Instead of the boring boxes, the corresponding icons automatically gets displayed!

Comments

Where is this "Icon Notation"?
Johannes said…
Hi, you get that when you perform a right mouse-click on the selected Node(s).

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