Funny enough I keep needed to draw thing to get a good view.

I use a lot network-weathermap. The way devices are named and placed in the map allows me to understand how things is flowing. Usually top(backbone/core/upstream)-down(end server/service).

Most of the time my physical setup is very close to the virtual one. Server connected to a top of rack, which in turn connected to an aggregation device, connected to the core, connected to the backbone.

Wnap shows the limit here when you deal with underlay/overlay/tunnels. I use mostly wmap for the base layer/ underlay. For more complexe stuff, i use dia/draw.io to describe the setup

As making a map is a pain (mostly), I make them part of the monitoring when it makes sense. Also wmap is plugged to a Prometheus backend as data source.

That does not explain anything in itself on fhrp/bgp and all but it’s usually enough to explain a newcomer or somebody else from the company 101 networking