Network Configuration Guide Template

What is a network configuration guide?

A network configuration guide is a structured document that describes the design, addressing, routing, and security configuration of a network segment — giving engineers the reference they need to manage, troubleshoot, and modify infrastructure without reverse-engineering the setup.

Network configuration is the foundation that all IT services depend on. When it is undocumented, every change carries risk: engineers guess at IP ranges, duplicate firewall rules, or break routing because they cannot see the full picture. A structured template captures the design intent alongside the technical detail. Each guide covers the same sections — topology, addressing, routing, security — so any engineer can navigate any site’s configuration using a familiar format.

Who should use this template?

This template is for teams responsible for network infrastructure:

• Network Engineers — document configurations so colleagues can manage and modify infrastructure without the original designer
• IT Support Teams — reference network guides when troubleshooting connectivity issues or onboarding new services
• Security Teams — audit firewall rules and access policies against documented baselines
• IT Managers — maintain visibility into network architecture across all sites for capacity planning and compliance

What’s included in this template?

The template has two parts: structured metadata fields and the guide body.

Metadata fields classify each guide:

• Network segment name and site location
• Technology stack (vendor, model, firmware version)
• Guide owner — the network engineer accountable for accuracy
• Last verified date and next review date
• Criticality level (production, non-production)

Guide body covers the configuration:

• Topology — physical and logical network diagrams with device roles and interconnections
• IP addressing — subnet allocations, VLAN assignments, DHCP scopes, and reserved ranges
• Routing — routing protocols, static routes, and gateway configurations
• Security — firewall rules, ACLs, VPN configurations, and segmentation policies
• Monitoring — SNMP targets, alerting thresholds, and dashboard references

How to create and customise this template in Elium

1. Open the Template Builder — Go to your profile menu and select the Template Builder tab, or click “+ Create” and choose “Create a new template”.
2. Set the scope — Choose an icon, enable the template, and decide whether it applies platform-wide or to specific spaces (e.g. your Network Infrastructure or IT Operations space).
3. Add structured fields — Click “Field” to add metadata: text fields for segment name and site location, tag fields for technology stack and criticality level, a user field for guide owner, and date fields for last verified and next review. Mark segment name and guide owner as mandatory.
4. Build the guide structure — Use the “+” button to add content blocks: an image block for topology diagrams, table blocks for IP addressing and firewall rules, text blocks for routing and security configurations, and a text block for monitoring details. Add placeholder prompts (e.g. “Which VLANs are assigned to this segment?”).
5. Preview and save — Review the template layout, then save. Network engineers can now document configurations consistently, and you can apply it to existing content in bulk.

How AI helps you create and use this template

Capture faster. Paste switch configurations or firewall exports into Elium’s AI. It identifies the key parameters — subnets, VLANs, routes, and rules — then drafts a structured guide that the engineer validates rather than documenting each setting manually.

Retrieve smarter. An engineer asks Elium’s AI: “What is the VLAN assignment for the guest wireless network at the Brussels office?” The AI returns the VLAN ID, subnet, DHCP scope, and firewall rules from the relevant guide.

Why teams use Elium for network documentation

Network documentation decays faster than most IT knowledge. Firmware upgrades, capacity changes, and security patches modify configurations continuously. When documentation lives in spreadsheets or personal notes, it drifts out of sync within weeks. Elium keeps network guides where engineers work: structured templates enforce consistency, and AI search returns the right configuration from a question.

VINCI Energies — 97,000 employees across 61 countries — centralised IT knowledge in Elium. With 4,000+ articles and 500+ daily users, their engineers reference documented configurations rather than relying on memory or undocumented tribal knowledge.