# Cloud architecture diagram

Cloud diagrams have a pull towards official icons, and there is a real reason for it: an icon that everyone recognises removes a label. The cost is that icon-heavy diagrams have to be drawn by hand.

Both routes are here. Use icons when the audience is broad, and text when the diagram changes weekly.

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## When to reach for one

* Design documents and architecture reviews.
* Cost or security reviews, where the boundaries matter more than the icons.
* Explaining a deployment to somebody who will operate it.

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## How to draw it in Capable

| **Route**     | **Use when**                                               |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| draw.io       | Official AWS, Azure and Google Cloud icon libraries.       |
| D2 or Mermaid | Text that lays itself out, for diagrams that change often. |

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## A worked example

A cloud deployment drawn as text, with boundaries as containers:

![Cloud architecture diagram](https://help.gocapable.com/images/att1418493998.svg)

The source, which you can paste into a new diagram and edit:

```
direction: right

internet: Internet

cloud: Production account {
  lb: Load balancer
  vpc: VPC {
    web: Web tier {
      shape: rectangle
    }
    app: App tier
    db: Managed database {
      shape: cylinder
    }
  }
  store: Object storage {
    shape: cylinder
  }
}

internet -> cloud.lb: HTTPS
cloud.lb -> cloud.vpc.web
cloud.vpc.web -> cloud.vpc.app
cloud.vpc.app -> cloud.vpc.db
cloud.vpc.app -> cloud.store
```

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## A few things that catch people out

* Draw the trust boundary, not just the services. It is the most useful line on a cloud diagram.
* Managed services still fail. Draw them as components, not as background.
* One diagram per environment, or one diagram with the differences called out. Not one diagram pretending they are identical.

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## Related

[AWS architecture diagramVPCs, subnets and the icons everyone knows.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/aws-architecture-diagram.html)

[Azure architecture diagramResource groups, subscriptions and hierarchy.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/azure-architecture-diagram.html)

[ExamplesWorking diagrams you can copy.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/examples.html)

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_Draw the trust boundary._