System architecture diagram template (free)

What’s inside the System Architecture.

Real content in every part, ready to rewrite with your own.

1Six tiers down the left: clients, edge, gateway, services, data and workers
2Four clients, the CDN and firewall, the API gateway, and three services inside a dashed cloud region
3Postgres, a read replica, Redis, object storage and an event queue with its two consumers
4Three third parties outside the region, solid arrows for requests and dashed ones for events, each labelled
5One order traced in seven red steps, two open questions on sticky notes, and a slot for another service

When to use it.

System Architecture is a whiteboard for drawing how a software product fits together, at the container level of the C4 model. Boxes sit in tiers the way a request travels: clients, the edge, the gateway, services, data stores and the queue, then background workers, with third parties outside the cloud region. Each kind of box has its own colour, solid arrows are requests and dashed ones events, and every arrow says what travels on it. Red numbers trace one request end to end. The example is a lunch-ordering platform.

Made for

Operations and project managers
Agencies mapping a process with a client
Founders drawing their first org chart
Teams fixing a slow hand-off

Make it yours in four steps.

Open it in Whiteboard and work through it, or let Docsiv AI do the first pass with your details.

Step 1
Rename the clients, services and stores to the ones you run, and delete the tiers you don’t have.
Step 2
Label every arrow with what travels on it, solid for requests and dashed for events.
Step 3
Trace one key request with the red numbers and list the steps under One order.
Step 4
Put open questions from the review on sticky notes and share the board with your team.

Start from the System Architecture now.

Questions about this template.

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Is the System Architecture template free?

Yes. Create a free account and it opens in Docsiv's Whiteboard app, ready to edit and share. The Free plan includes every Docsiv app and 500 AI credits a month.

Can I change the colours, fonts and text?

Yes, all of it. The template uses Excalifont and Nunito with #a5d8ff, #ffec99, #ffd8a8, #b2f2bb, #96f2d7, #d0bfff, #e03131, and you can change any of them, rewrite every word and add or remove notes, shapes and connectors.

What can I export it as?

Whiteboard in Docsiv offers: Excalidraw boards, PNG and SVG exports. Once it's saved, you can also share it with a link.

Can Docsiv AI write the system architecture diagram for me?

Yes. Tell Docsiv AI about the client or project and it can draft the content in this template's style, which you then review and edit. AI uses credits; the Free plan includes 500 a month.

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