How to Document Computer Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel diagramming methodology called the 'thinging machine' to systematically specify and visualize computer network architectures, aiming to improve clarity and maintainability over traditional complex diagrams.

Contribution

It proposes a new formal approach for network documentation using the thinging machine, providing a unified and coherent network architecture diagram.

Findings

Successfully applied to an existing network for validation.

Produced a comprehensive, integrated network diagram.

Demonstrated potential to replace traditional documentation methods.

Abstract

Documenting networks is an essential tool for troubleshooting network problems. The documentation details a network's structure and context, serves as a reference and makes network management more effective. Complex network diagrams are hard to document and maintain and are not guaranteed to reflect reality. They contain many superficial icons (e.g., wall, screen and tower). Defining a single coherent network architecture and topology, similar to engineering schematics, has received great interest. We propose a fundamental approach for methodically specifying a network architecture using a diagramming method to conceptualize the network s structure. The method is called a thinging (abstract) machine, through which the network world is viewed as a single unifying element called the thing/machine (thimac), providing the ontology for modeling the network. To test its viability, the thinging-machine-based methodology was applied to an existing computer network to produce a single integrated, diagrammatic representation that incorporates communication, software and hardware. The resultant description shows a viable, coherent depiction that can replace the current methods.