Data flow between computers through network equipment

[Masterbaker]

Hi! I want to create a diagram that'll allow people to visually see the traffic flow from one machine to another. An example :

HTTPS traffic from Server A to Server B passes through a router. So I would like to have a single connection that starts from computer A, goes through router X, then arrives at computer B.

Computer A ---------------Router----------------> Computer B

Here's the problem i'm having :I'd like the path to be glue to the router as well, so that If/when I move the router, I don't need to readjust all my connectors to flow through it. Haven't figured a way to do that and it's frustrating as it makes any changes to the diagram a pain!

Any clues? Thanks!

[Paul Herber]

Can you not just set the connector text to be "Router"?
If the router is a separate shape then what is wrong with using two connectors, one from Computer A to the router and one from the router to Computer B? This is the proper way to do it.

[Masterbaker]

My problem was that the router handles dozens of connections. using the limited amount of anchors on a shape made it impossible to know which computers were connected together through the router.

I ended up creating multiple "anchors" on the router - one for each connection - then I created two connectors (computer A to router, router to computer B.

That way, people can follow and differenciate the connection "Computer a to computer B" from the connection "computer Z to computer X" that use the same router.

Not the most elegant solution but it gets the job done.

Thanks

[aledlund]

Your challange is that you are attempting to show a logical path (connectivity which may be based upon protocols, sessions, conversations, etc) that is typically associated over a common physical link(s). As you're undoubtedly aware the very process of enabling an end-node to communicate can involve DNS(find end-node) server, AD server (authentication), Kerberos (security), Web (a very simple app), etc. Each of these typically has a set of tuple definitions in a Sniffer trace which can lead to several hundred flows. The solution I used was to a.) identify the possible route between end-nodes using a simple shortest-route and not attempting to take into account any weighted pathing the routers might apply and then b.) putting the individual physical path component onto a specific layer of the drawing. Obviously this puts the connector onto several layers simultaneously. I could then turn the layers on/off to show the data I wanted to present.
Short answer, for a simple node-to-node config use layers and it can be done manually, beyond that you'll need some interesting code (parsers for the trace analytics, path analysis for topology, visio logic for drawing).
hth,
al