GCP Architecture Diagramming Tool

[takuya_miyai]

Hi everyone,

I see that the GCP configuration diagramming tool has been released.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/developers-practitioners/introducing-google-cloud-architecture-...

There are not only IaaS product icons, but also PaaS, Sa aS and application layer icons, which seems to be worth using for App Creator.
And of course, AppSheet is included!🤗
However, the icons are...😅

[Aditya_Iyer]

Do you recommend using this over the other tools available? I am not a fan of the appsheet internal erd and looking for alternatives as the app has got quite complex. Do share any best practices. Thanks

[vikwahi]

Hi,

Have you been using this tool and aware of any Skills boost Trainings (or otherwise) to help getting up to speed?

Thanks!

[dheerajpanyam]

Steep learning curve unfortunately

[OJUDITH]

Hi ,

I can no more access this tool .  is it still available ? 

[ShubhamRasal]

same here.. I did not find the tool

[leoy]

EDITED: Please, note that this tool is currently unavailable. The main advantage of the tool was not its ability to create design diagrams but the feature to generate Terraform files to provision the architecture designed in the tool.

There is WIP to provide practitioners with more intelligent and flexible approach to the problem of provisioning architectures.

I am unsure if the tool will be available again in its capacity of the architecture diagram editors. As alternatives I would suggest to review other diagram editors. As free editing tools you can consider:

• https://excalidraw.com/
• https://docs.google.com/drawings/
• https://docs.google.com/presentation/
• free tier of https://www.lucidchart.com/

You can use icons and graphical elements of Google Cloud from https://cloud.google.com/icons (icons library) that can be used with the above tools or with other tools.

For example, you can consider 

[innopulse]

THanks for the update!
I was looking online for it and did not find anything 🙂
Kindly, is there a target date for the release?
I need to decide either to wait for it or to proceed with practicing another tool.
Thanks,

[leoy]

The planned timeframe is Q1 2025. While it might be January I cannot give any guarantees. I hope it helps you in your planning.

[davidregalado25]

Thanks for the reply @leoy. I look forward to having the new upgraded version of this diagramming tool.

--
Best regards
David Regalado
Web | Linkedin | Cloudskillsboost

[jramos]

The GKE Onboarding checklist still links to the tool, which isn't a great user experience... it's the first item in the recommended onboarding steps.

 

Neither link leads to the expected content. 😞

[leoy]

[edited]

Thank you for letting us know. I am not familiar with this flow. Just found it in the GKE Overview page in the Cloud console. I will submit a change to modify the content of the step.

Regards,
Leonid

[leoy]

I'd like to follow up and update you that the new tool that I mentioned in my previous response is now available in the public preview version. If you do not see it when opening the Cloud console, give it a couple of days to complete enrollment.

• Documentation: https://cloud.google.com/application-design-center/docs
• Cloud console page: https://console.cloud.google.com/products/design-center/overview

I'd like to clarify a couple of points to avoid some questions. This tool is called Application Design Center (ADC). It creates architectures based on natural language prompts and allows users to modify and configure the elements in the architecture. The tool also generates a collection of Terraform files that provision this architecture as well as supports the deploy process and versioning. The deployed architectures can be viewed and managed through App Hub UI interface and will be supported by upcoming products.
To emphasize it, ADC is focused on Google Cloud architecture. The tool shows design diagrams that can be captured using screenshots but it currently does not provide to download the image of the diagram.

I hope you will find it helpful. Please, use Feedback in the Help menu of the Cloud console to leave your impression and feedback.

[dheerajpanyam]

Very nice @leoy  Just curious why is this under AppSheet community?

[leoy]

I do not know. This is where the question was posted. Probably the author thought this is the right place for it.

[DaveInTheCloud]

Hi Leoy, 
I don't see any pricing about Application Design Center. Is it completly free ?
https://googlecloudcheatsheet.withgoogle.com/ we be not longer avaible right ? 

What was really usefull for me, was the diagrams templates that make wons lot of time. 
Is there any other resource that is equivalent for that kinds of diagrams ? 

Thank you in advance

[leoy]

---

I don't see any pricing about Application Design Center. Is it completly free ?

 As far as I know this product is currently in preview . Once it will move to GA the pricing will be published. I cannot disclose any info right now. 

---

https://googlecloudcheatsheet.withgoogle.com/ we be not longer avaible right ? 

---

Yes.

---

What was really usefull for me, was the diagrams templates that make wons lot of time. 

Is there any other resource that is equivalent for that kinds of diagrams ? 

---

I am unsure what you are asking about. If you are referencing graphics and style guides they are available at https://cloud.google.com/icons in four flavors and you can use it with any designer tool of your choice. As I previously explained ADC is not intended for creating diagrams but to serve as a tool to generate IaC bundles and deploy them. It also provides versioning control and more. Its current featureset is still not full. For example, it does not let you to download the architecture diagram shown on the screen as an image. A feature request for this functionality has been submitted and hopefully will be released soon.

I hope it address your questions.

[DaveInTheCloud]

Thanks for your quick answer.

My previous question was about archetypes or templates for use cases. What I liked about the Google Cloud cheat sheets was the fact that you could select a use case, and it would give you a basic architecture and a diagram.

I was looking for something similar, I found architecture cloud center. But I would to have something shorter.

I found equivalent stuff on (but this is not the guidelines from google):
https://online.visual-paradigm.com/diagrams/templates/google-cloud-platform-diagram/

[leoy]

This is what ADC should be able to provide to you. The difference is that instead of selecting from the limited set of use cases and getting a generalized architecture, you should be able to chat with ADC using natural language and it will create the architecture that is considered best fitting to your case and following recommended practices and guidelines.

This product is currently in preview. The team would appreciate if you can use the feedback mechanism built-in into UI and provide your positive and negative experience so they can improve the tool.

[dheerajpanyam]

This is a nice feature @leoy . I shall explore when i get time.