I'm currently an intern at a company. For my intermediate report I Received some feedback about displaying the relations between multiple applications.
So in my image all 3D rectangles are a deployed application. The database figures are a persistence layer (doesn't need to be a database, could be a file). The feedback I received is that this diagram doesn't adhere to any modeling languages. This is correct, I only modeled to make the relations between applications visible.
So I tried making a start with a deployment diagram using UML standards.
Unfortunately a deployment diagram doesn't properly show the relations between application. It just shows where an application is deployed.
So my question is: what kind of 'official' diagram could I use to show the relation between applications as shown in the first diagram?
EDIT
I'm a student doing an internship at a company. The reason it needs to be an 'official' diagram is because it is a requirement for the report. Thanks for all the replies so far.
Best Answer
UML deployment diagrams (using only the notation defined in the OMG specification) can contain notes as well as annotations on the associations between nodes. You can add directionality to the associations if it helps, but do consider the nature of the communication - even if you aren't sending messages back and forth, the underlying protocol may.
A UML component diagram may also be useful. You can show the interfaces between components in the system, this will provide a useful notation. You can relate components to elements on the deployment diagram as well.
If you want to show a flow of communication between nodes, perhaps consider an interaction overview diagram. You can then delegate the specific details of what happens within various nodes to sequence diagrams.
The real question is why you need an "official diagram". First and foremost - consider the needs of your stakeholders. Identify who they are and what information they care about, then choose the appropriate tools to deliver that information.
Using a standardized modeling notation is useful. If you use UML, you don't need to explain your modeling notation to other people. You can simply follow the rules of the language and point people to the documentation. No need to create a key to understand. However, UML isn't the only modeling language out there that is standardized - consider the C4 model (which can use UML for the most detailed models) or ER modeling (which has a few standard notations - Chen's, Bachman's, Crow's Foot).
Also consider the idea of viewpoints and perspectives. In order to satisfy different stakeholders, you may need different diagrams. Perhaps even different diagrams of the same time. For example, in a distributed system, the operations stakeholders may care about things like communication protocols and ports between nodes while development stakeholders may care more about what types of messages flow and their directionality. This may require making two different deployment diagrams for the same system, with different details on each diagram.