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Tools/Guides/Diagram templates

Diagram templates

Eleven VCF 9 reference architecture diagrams, each linked to the Broadcom documentation it follows, with its design tradeoffs, ready to download as SVG, PNG, draw.io, Excalidraw, Mermaid, PlantUML or JSON and adapt.

VCF 9.0 and 9.1Runs in your browser
Open the tool

When to use it

  • You need a clean starting diagram for a design document, a workshop or a customer slide, and don't want to draw a VCF 9 hierarchy or edge cluster from scratch.
  • You are explaining a choice, such as VPCs or segments, Tier-0 Active/Standby or Active/Active, one VDS or two, and want the tradeoffs next to the picture.
  • You want the diagram in the tool your team already edits: draw.io, Excalidraw, Mermaid or PlantUML.

How it works

Each template is a list of boxes, nested boxes and links, drawn on the page as SVG. The cards show a live thumbnail, the description and tags. Opening a card shows the full diagram with three sections:

  • Overview — what the architecture is, and a Broadcom VCF 9 reference link to the page it follows.
  • Download — the export buttons.
  • Design tradeoffs — the points for and against, marked as pros and cons.

The templates fall into four categories:

CategoryTemplates
ReferenceVCF 9 Private Cloud Hierarchy; Standard VCF 9 Architecture (Single Instance); Minimal-Footprint VCF 9 Architecture (Consolidated); VCF 9 Management Domain VLAN Layout
NetworkNSX VPC Networking with Transit Gateway; NSX Segment Networking (Traditional Two-Tier); NSX Edge Cluster: T0 Active/Standby vs Active/Active; Dual VDS for Workload Separation
StoragevSAN 9 Stretched Cluster (Two-AZ); vSAN ESA Single-Tier Storage Pool
OperationsCertificate Authority Hierarchy for VCF 9

Diagrams take the site's colours for the theme you are viewing, light or dark, and the exports do too: SVG and PNG use the same background, and Mermaid and Excalidraw files are set to the matching light or dark theme.

Step by step

  1. Find a templateType in Search templates to match titles, descriptions and tags, or pick a category: All, Reference, Network, Storage or Operations. The count shows how many match.
  2. Open itClick a card. Read the overview and the tradeoffs, and follow the Broadcom link if you need the detail behind a box.
  3. Choose the themeSwitch the site to light or dark first if your document needs one or the other.
  4. DownloadUse draw.io or Excalidraw to edit the diagram, Mermaid or PlantUML for docs kept as text, SVG or PNG (2×) for a finished picture, JSON source for the raw description, or Copy SVG to paste it straight in.
  5. Adapt itRename the boxes to your domains, clusters and appliances, and change counts and labels to match your design.

Worked example

Finding the stretched cluster and taking the consolidated design to draw.io

  • Typing witness in the search leaves 1 of 11 templates: vSAN 9 Stretched Cluster (Two-AZ). In it the second zone's vCenter box reads “vCenter (restarts here)”, linked by “vSphere HA restart”.
  • Clearing the search and picking Network shows 4 of 11 templates.
  • Back on All, opening Minimal-Footprint VCF 9 Architecture (Consolidated) shows its Broadcom link and seven tradeoffs. Its NSX Manager box reads “single node · vSphere HA”.
  • Clicking draw.io downloads vcf9-consolidated.drawio. Esc closes the detail view.

The draw.io file has one shape for every box in the template, so you can rename the appliances and resize the cluster there.

What it doesn't do

  • Edit diagrams. The templates are fixed. Change them in draw.io or Excalidraw after you download them.
  • Size your design. Host counts and names are the documentation's examples, not your environment. Use the reference architecture builder to draw and check your own.
  • Keep the layout in text formats. Mermaid and PlantUML files describe the boxes, nesting and links; the layout comes from the renderer, not from the template.
  • Follow later documentation changes. Each template follows the Broadcom page it links. Check that page when a release changes the design.

Common mistakes

  • Exporting in the wrong theme. A diagram exported while you view the site in dark mode has a dark background. Switch the theme first.
  • Starting from the segment model by habit. The segment template itself notes that 9.1 recommends VPCs, including for new VKS deployments, and that segments remain the model for NSX Federation.
  • Reading one tradeoff on its own. The edge template, for example, lists Active/Standby as required for VCF Automation All Apps, while Active/Active gives more north-south throughput. Read both columns before choosing.
  • Copy SVG on a page that isn't secure. The clipboard needs a secure page; if the copy fails, download the SVG instead.

Questions

Which format should I pick to edit a diagram?

draw.io or Excalidraw. Both keep the boxes where the template puts them, with labels and links you can change.

What is in the JSON source?

The template as the page uses it: its id, title, category, tags, description, Broadcom link, tradeoffs, boxes and links.

Is anything uploaded?

No. Rendering and export happen in your browser.

Sources