Salt system architecture


Made for SaltStack, this sample shows examples of how I write conceptual documents describing system architecture:

About this writing sample

Salt is an open source configuration management product used primarily by DevOps engineers and IT system administrators. Salt is a UNIX-based tool that is primarily used in a command-line interface (CLI). This document explains the underlying system architecture to new users.

Our documentation team had received feedback that new customers needed a better understanding of the underlying architecture for our core products before beginning a product installation.

To create this documentation, I researched our architecture and consulted with subject matter experts to produce this draft. I also collaborated with one of our UX designers to ensure the diagram I created communicated clearly.

What I want you to notice

Documentation feature Comment
Content
  • This sample demonstrates my ability to describe system architecture for highly technical audiences.
  • The document introduces important terms and key concepts about the system architecture to new users.
  • This document demonstrates my ability to provide CLI bash examples for Linux users.
Organization
  • Notice that the document starts with an introductory section that forecasts the content of this documentation content. Users can scan this section to quickly identify whether the content is useful to them or not.
  • The document is organized by teaching the most important, foundational terms and concepts first.
Visual effectiveness
  • The main graphic for this sample was produced using Adobe Illustrator.
  • The graphic hints about additional features in the system archicture that users can explore as they learn more about the tool later.