Creating Professional AWS Architecture Diagrams: Tools and Techniques

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a wide range of services that can be used to build robust and scalable applications. However, with the increasing complexity of cloud architecture, it’s essential to create professional AWS architecture diagrams to communicate the architecture effectively.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the tools and techniques for creating professional AWS architecture diagrams.

References

Here, you can find a ton of AWS Architecture Diagrams references.

Use the search feature to see if you can find one which matches your use case.

If you found one, you can directly download it from the site as a PDF:

However, if you didn’t find one, you can try one of the following 2 approaches —

1. Create an architecture diagram from scratch (steps mentioned below)
2. Or, if you already have implemented the infrastructure components on AWS, use AWS Workload Discovery or hava.io to generate accurate diagrams automatically without the tedious manual drawing.

I shall elaborate both the options here in details.

Create an architecture diagram from scratch

If you are to use this approach, make sure to download the AWS Architecture Icons from this site.

Or, if you want to create it online, visit this site to create it just by dragging, dropping and resizing the AWS icons. The following video shows the step by step process.

Create an architecture diagram by using Workload Discovery or hava.io

Workload Discovery on AWS

Workload Discovery on AWS | AWS Solutions (amazon.com)

Workload Discovery is visualization tool that automatically generates architecture diagrams of AWS Cloud workloads.

It can be used to build, customize, and share detailed visualizations of the resources in your AWS accounts based on near real time data.

The solution works by maintaining an inventory of the AWS resources across your accounts and various Regions, mapping relationships between them, and displaying them in an easy-to-use web user interface.

Here is a sample diagram which was generated by the Workload Discovery:

Benefits of using Workload Discovery on AWS

1. Build architecture diagrams: Workload Discovery on AWS lets you build, customize, and share detailed architecture diagrams. Workload Discovery on AWS maintains an inventory of the AWS resources across your accounts and Regions, mapping relationships between them, and displaying them in a web UI.
2. Query AWS Cost & Usage Reports (CURs): The cost query builder lets you locate AWS resources and services that may have incurred a cost. The estimated cost data is automatically calculated for the time period specified and displays on your architecture diagrams.
3. Search: The search feature lets you use basic information, such as resource name, Tag name, or IP address to locate the resources you are interested in.
4. Resource directory: Explore resources provisioned across your accounts and Regions using the resource directory. It contains all the resources Workload Discovery on AWS has discovered. You can start building your Workload Discovery on AWS architecture diagrams by selecting a resource in the web UI.
5. Save and export architecture diagrams: You can save your Workload Discovery on AWS architecture diagram to revisit later or share it with other Workload Discovery on AWS users. To use the diagrams outside of Workload Discovery on AWS you can export to PNG, JSON, CSV, or draw.io.

Associated Cost

As of the latest revision, the cost of running this solution using the single instance deployment option in the US East (N. Virginia) Region is approximately $0.58 per hour or $425.19 per month.

A detailed breakup of the cost can be found here.

hava.io

If you want to use hava.io to generate an AWS architecture diagram, refer to the following article. It has a nice explanation of the tool and how it works.

Generate AWS Architecture Diagrams | by Alan Blackmore | Medium

Bonus Tips

For Azure Architecture diagrams, refer to this link: Browse Azure Architectures — Azure Architecture Center | Microsoft Learn

For GCP Architecture diagrams, refer to this link: Cloud Architecture Guidance and Topologies | Cloud Architecture Center | Google Cloud

Conclusion

Hope you found this blog useful! Let me know what you think about this, if you have any suggestion of a topic you would love to see here get in touch.

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