Drawing Cloud Architectures, Neural Network Diagrams and more with Draw.io

Draw.io is a free online diagramming tool. Since it integrates with google drive(also other popular storage), provides rich templates, and is easy to draw from scratch, I have been using it for several years now.

Integration with various storage

After opening the website, a window would pop up to select the file location. You could create a new file or load an existing one from the storage.

Rich Templates

The tool is outstanding, especially for the IT service department or IT students, because it provides templates including flowcharts, cloud networks, wireframes, etc. The first diagram I made with Draw.io was an ER diagram back in 2018. I also use it to draw cloud structures for cloud computing assignments. Now I am using it to draw neural networks.

On top of those templates and related shapes, it also provides various icons. Below is the cloud template; you can find all the Google Cloud Icons on the left.

If you open “More Shapes” on the bottom left, you can find tons of icons there.

Easy to draw diagrams from scratch

Unfortunately, there is no neural network template. But drawing from scratch is not difficult, simply drag and drop all the shapes you need, and make further edit by adjusting the settings on the right.

I just draw those neural lines by hand…anyway, I stick to this tool now.

Below it was the first diagram I draw using draw.io.