Today we can find a large number of software for the realization of different types of diagrams, including network diagrams. We are sure that all of you know Microsoft‘s Visio, but there are other programs much more complete and multiplatform, such as the Wondershare EdrawMax that we are going to present to you today. This software has a trial version with limitations, but later we will have to acquire a license to use the program without limitations. Today in this article we are going to show you how it works, what options we have available, and how to create our first network diagram.
Main features
This Wondershare EdrawMax program will allow us to create flowcharts, mind maps, organization charts, network diagrams where we can place routers, switches, access points, firewalls and many more devices related to networks and servers. Of course, we can also create floor plans with a large gallery of examples and templates to greatly facilitate its modification, so that we do not have to do the entire diagram from scratch. One of the most important features of this software is that it has a large number of templates and symbols, in this way, we can start the design quickly by choosing from thousands of templates designed for professional environments.
Wondershare EdrawMax allows you to import Visio files, and even export all diagrams to different well-known file formats, such as Visio, PDF, Word, PPT, JPEG, HTML files and more. Compared to Visio, this software allows us to create more than 260 types of diagrams without any effort, from the most technical diagrams to infographics, so we can also use it in the marketing department and not only in the technical department.
Other strong points of this software is that we can see all the information in a very intuitive way, we can draw anything and we will have contextual menus with more advanced options, in addition, we will have intelligent and dynamic tools to customize everything in detail.
This program is available for Microsoft Windows, Linux and also Mac operating systems, in addition, we have a web version to make all the diagrams online, without the need to install the software. Of course, in the case of Windows systems, it supports Windows 10 x64 without any problem, in addition, we have it available in several languages, including Spanish.
Download and Install Wondershare EdrawMax
The first thing we have to do to download this program is to enter its official website, select the operating system, and click on «Download». We must remember that this program provides a completely free version, but with limitations, both in time that we can use it without acquiring the license, as well as in the functionalities of the program itself.
Once downloaded, we proceed with the software installation, by clicking on the «Install» button, all the software will be downloaded automatically, to later install it, all without user intervention. Here we can select the language, in our case Spanish, and also the software installation path.
While the complete software is downloaded and installed, we can see that Wondershare EdrawMax is an all-in-one diagram solution, it is very easy and fast to use, it is compatible with Visio, PDF and Office files, in addition, we have a very large number of built-in templates and symbols, to perfectly suit our diagramming needs.
Once installed, we can click on “Start Now” to start the program.
While the program starts, it will also launch our default web browser with information about the trial version, we will automatically have a test watermark on all the files we export, the diagram templates are limited to 5 for each type of diagram, in addition When the 15-day trial period expires, we will not be able to save the project.
Start-up and operation of Wondershare EdrawMax
The first thing that strikes us about Wondershare EdrawMax is the large number of default templates that we have, of all kinds, including the ability to create infographics very easily and quickly. On the left we can see that the user interface reminds us of Visio, but this program has more integrated resources. In the section of the different templates, we can see in detail each category, such as basic diagrams, business, flow diagrams, organization chart, project management, and, of course, network diagrams.
If we go to the network section, we can see different diagrams related to the world of networks, such as Active Directory, AWS, Azure, Ethernet LAN diagrams, hotel network diagram, CPD diagram, WAN diagram, and even topologies that uses Cisco for its different certifications. These templates are only available for the paid version of the program, we will not be able to open any of these if we have the evaluation version.
If we try to open one of these templates, it will tell us that we must upgrade to premium, and that we will have unlimited access to more than 1,000 high quality predefined templates.
If we open a blank diagram, we can add the different elements on the left side, we can also configure the fills, lines, shadow and much more, in addition, the graphical interface is very similar to Visio so go from Visio to this Wondershare EdrawMax will be really easy for you, since the configuration options are in the same place, but with more possibilities than Microsoft software.
In our case, you can see a very simple network made up of a router with a firewall, a switch, an AP and also three PCs, in addition, we have many figures to make network diagrams, as you can see below:
As you have seen, Wondershare EdrawMax is a great software for making network diagrams and of all kinds, we have thousands of templates at our disposal to get the most out of this great Visio alternative, in addition, something that has called us the note is that it is really quick and easy to create the diagrams.
