Rules allow you to define technical, architectural, and security constraints that apply to your documents, diagrams, and reviews. They ensure consistency with your design principles, security policies, and internal guidelines.

All rule configuration is managed from the Rules section in the UNCIA menu.

📹 Video - Managing Rules and Design Standards

Network Management Rules

1.1 Network Zones

Network Zones represent the logical segmentation of your information system.

Typical examples include:

• Internet Zone

• DMZ

• Intermediary Zone

• Internal Services Zone

These zones are used to define allowed or forbidden network flows between components.

How to configure Network Zones:

1. Open Rules → Network Management → Network Zones

2. Create zones that match your internal urbanization model

3. Use these zones later to enforce flow rules in diagrams

1.2 Network Flow Rules

Network rules define which protocols are allowed or forbidden between two zones.

Example:

• HTTP and SSH traffic forbidden between Internet and DMZ

How to create a network rule:

1. Select a source zone

2. Select a destination zone

3. Choose one or more protocols (or all)

4. Set the rule as Allowed or Forbidden

These rules are automatically applied to diagrams and validations.

1.3 Protocol List

UNCIA includes a predefined list of common protocols.

What you can do:

• View existing protocols

• Modify default protocol definitions

• Add custom protocols if needed

Location:

Rules → Network Management → Protocol List

Drawing Objects

Drawing Objects define the building blocks used in UNCIA diagrams.

They are processed by the UNCIA backend to generate:

• Architecture diagrams

• Flow cartography

• Infrastructure views

2.1 Internal Modules

Internal Modules represent components within your application or service.

Examples:

• Front-end web application

• Backend API

• Internal service

2.2 Complex Modules (Hierarchy)

Complex Modules allow you to model parent-child relationships.

Use cases:

• A main application composed of multiple services

• Functional decomposition of a system

The parent module contains several child “bricks”.

2.3 External Modules

External Modules represent systems outside the scope of your application.

Examples:

• External APIs

• Third-party services

• Other internal applications managed by different teams

UNCIA allows you to:

• Define exposed internal modules

• Map interactions across applications

2.4 Users and Flows

• User objects represent actors interacting with the system

• Flows represent technical interactions between components

Flows inherit:

• Network zone constraints

• Protocol rules

• Security parameters

2.5 Object Parameters

You can associate common parameters to all objects, such as:

• Confidentiality level

• Traffic volume

• Security attributes

These parameters are global and reusable, not object-specific.

2.6 Reusable Blocks

Reusable Blocks allow you to:

• Combine multiple modules into a single reusable component

• Drag and drop them into documents

This will be detailed further in practical examples.

Naming Conventions

UNCIA allows you to define standard prefixes for diagram objects.

Examples:

• User flow: U

• Internal flow: I

• External flow: E

• Module: M

• User: P

This ensures consistency across all diagrams.

Location:

Rules → Naming Convention

Review Process Parameters

The Review Process allows you to validate documents directly in UNCIA, avoiding email-based reviews.

4.1 Review Workflow Configuration

You can configure:

• Number of review rounds

• Round duration (used for reminders)

• Automatic validation (when all groups approve)

• Manual validation by document owner

4.2 Review Scope by Version Type

You can decide to:

• Enforce reviews for major versions

• Skip reviews for minor or intermediate versions

In skipped cases, the document owner validates the document.

4.3 Flags Management

Flags allow reviewers to mark comments as:

• Blocking (approval is locked)

• Non-blocking

Blocking flags must be resolved before approval can continue.

Document Metadata

Document Metadata allows you to add optional contextual information, such as:

• Application owner

• Service owner

• Business context

Metadata is not mandatory but strongly recommended for governance.

Environment Management

UNCIA supports multiple environments in a single document.

Examples:

• Development

• Testing

• Production

Each diagram layer can be linked to a specific environment.

CIAT Scales

UNCIA supports CIAT criteria:

• Confidentiality

• Integrity

• Availability

• Traceability

You can define:

• Your own numerical scale (e.g. 1–5)

• The meaning of each level (documented internally)

Document Hierarchy Naming

UNCIA supports parent-child document structures.

Example:

• Parent document: Project

• Child documents: Design documents

The Infrastructure layer is a key component in UNCIA. It allows you to link applications and design documents to real infrastructure assets, ensuring traceability between architecture design and actual deployment.

All infrastructure configuration is managed from the Infrastructure menu.

📹 Video - Infrastructure Asset Management

Accessing Infrastructure Management

1. Open the UNCIA main menu

2. Click on Infrastructure

You will find three main subsections:

• Infrastructure Templates

• Attributes

• Infrastructure View

Infrastructure Templates

Infrastructure Templates define the structure and attributes used to describe infrastructure assets.

UNCIA supports three types of infrastructure templates.

2.1 Virtual Infrastructure

Used for virtual assets, such as:

• Virtual machines

• Cloud resources

• Virtual services

Key characteristics:

• No hardware family is required

• Fully flexible structure

• Attributes are freely defined

2.2 Hardware Infrastructure

Used for physical assets, which must be linked to a hardware family.

Available hardware families include:

• Computing devices (servers, mobile devices)

• Storage solutions

• Network equipment (routers, firewalls, switches)

• Data center hardware

• Specialized hardware

Configuration steps:

1. Select Hardware as the infrastructure type

2. Choose a hardware family

3. Assign attributes from the attribute list

4. Define a reference used across UNCIA views

2.3 Third-Party Infrastructure

Used to link UNCIA infrastructure to external providers.

Typical use cases:

• Cloud providers (Azure, AWS)

• External platforms

• CMDB integrations (e.g. ServiceNow)

This type is critical for Design-to-Build traceability.

Attributes Management

Attributes define the metadata associated with infrastructure assets.

Each attribute has a type, such as:

• Product (explored during lifecycle)

• Single-select list

• Multi-select list

• Text or numeric value

Attribute scope:

• Global attributes: available for all infrastructure templates

• Local attributes: specific to a given template

You can also define default values for attributes.

Infrastructure Asset Definition

Once a template is defined, you can create infrastructure assets.

Common configuration elements:

• Infrastructure type (Virtual / Hardware / Third-Party)

• Attributes and default values

• Reference, used in:

  • Infrastructure views

  • Information system mapping

These assets are later linked to modules in diagrams.

Third-Party Integration (Cloud & CMDB)

5.1 Cloud Provider Integration (Example: Azure)

When using a Third-Party template, you must define:

• A resource type (e.g. Azure Virtual Machine)

• A primary key, used to identify assets between UNCIA and the provider

Example:

• Azure VM size property:
  properties.hardwareProfile.vmSize

This mapping allows UNCIA to:

• Match design assets with real cloud resources

• Perform compliance and consistency checks

Identification between UNCIA and Azure relies on the subscription reference, which is detailed in a later section.

5.2 ServiceNow (CMDB) Integration

If connected to ServiceNow:

• Define a ServiceNow primary key

• Map UNCIA attributes to ServiceNow properties

This enables:

• CMDB checks

• Compliance validation

• Alignment between documentation and operational data

Attributes Consolidation

The Attributes menu provides:

• A consolidated view of all attributes

• Visibility into:

  • Global attributes

  • Locally created attributes

This helps maintain consistency and governance across templates.

Infrastructure View

The Infrastructure View defines how infrastructure is displayed inside documents.

It allows you to:

• Configure the infrastructure schema

• Select which attributes are visible

• Control the level of detail shown

This configuration is applied per document and is explained further in a dedicated section of the Help Center.

Summary

• Infrastructure templates define how assets are modeled

• Three infrastructure types are supported: Virtual, Hardware, Third-Party

• Attributes provide structured metadata

• Third-party integrations enable Design-to-Build traceability

• Infrastructure views control how assets are displayed in documents

The Information System (IS) Mapping feature in UNCIA allows you to aggregate and visualize all information collected across documents into a simplified, consolidated view.

It provides a global understanding of applications, services, infrastructure, and flows across your information system.

📹 Video - ISMapping Views

Accessing IS Mapping

1. Open the UNCIA main menu

2. Navigate to IS Mapping

The IS Mapping section is divided into multiple subsections, each focusing on a different level of aggregation.

Document-Level Mapping

The first subsection focuses on document-level relationships.

What you see:

• Individual documents

• Relationships between:

  • Documents

  • Applications

  • Services

  • External modules

Each document is displayed independently, allowing you to:

• Understand its specific dependencies

• Identify external interactions

• Analyze isolated architectural scopes

Example:

• A document may show a relationship between an application module and an external service used only in that context.

Global Information System View

The Global View aggregates all relationships across all documents.

Key elements:

• Each node (dot) represents:

  • An application

  • An external service

• Each link represents:

  • A relationship between two applications

  • A relationship between an application and an external service

This view provides:

• A holistic view of the information system

• Cross-application dependency mapping

• Reuse visibility across multiple documents

Infrastructure Asset Mapping (CMDB View)

Another subsection focuses on Infrastructure Assets, acting as a CMDB-like view.

What it provides:

• Relationship between applications and infrastructure references

• Consolidated infrastructure data sourced directly from documentation

• Lifecycle and product data inherited from infrastructure definitions

This results in a documentation-driven CMDB, which is often more accurate and up to date than traditional manual CMDB approaches.

Intermediate Objects and Network Security

UNCIA also consolidates intermediate objects, which represent:

• Network security components

• Traffic control elements

• Flow mediation between applications

This allows you to:

• See which flows pass through which intermediate objects

• Understand how applications interact across network zones

• Identify security dependencies at the network level
  
  

External Services Reuse

UNCIA maintains a centralized list of external services.

Capabilities:

• External services defined in one document can be reused in others

• Services are consolidated across documents

• All reused services appear in the global IS Mapping view

This avoids duplication and ensures consistent representation of third-party dependencies.

Future Enhancements (Automatic Urbanization)

UNCIA will introduce automatic urbanization, which will:

• Automatically identify and digitize intermediate objects

• Automatically map external services

• Further reduce manual modeling effort

This enhancement will enrich IS Mapping with automated discovery capabilities.

Summary

IS Mapping in UNCIA provides:

• Document-level architectural visibility

• A global view of application and service relationships

• A documentation-driven CMDB

• Network and security flow consolidation

• Reusable external service definitions

The General Settings section in UNCIA allows you to configure global platform options that are outside the document design context, such as display preferences, notifications, authentication, integrations, and API access.

Only users with the Organization Owner role can manage these settings.

📹 Video - General Settings 

Accessing General Settings

1. Open the UNCIA main menu

2. Navigate to Settings

3. Select General Settings

Display Configuration

UNCIA allows you to customize how information is displayed in the Document List.

2.1 Metadata Display in Document List

1. Go to the Metadata configuration

2. Select the metadata fields you want to display (e.g. Metadata 1, Metadata 2)

3. Use drag and drop to arrange the columns in the document lis

4. Click Save to apply changes

This allows you to create a single consolidated view containing all relevant document information.

Main Configuration

3.1 Email Notifications (SMTP Configuration)

By default, UNCIA uses its built-in SMTP service.

You can configure UNCIA to forward all notification and subscription emails through your own email gateway.

Supported authentication modes:

• Basic authentication

  • SMTP host

  • Username

  • Password

• Microsoft 365 (Extended options)

  • OAuth2

  • Microsoft Graph

This allows full integration with corporate email infrastructure.

3.2 Single Sign-On (SSO)

Instead of managing users manually, UNCIA supports SSO authentication.

Supported identity providers:

• Okta

• Microsoft Entra ID

• Others

Required configuration:

• Issuer URL

• Client ID

• Client Secret

Once configured, user authentication is delegated to your identity provider.

3.3 Dynamic Lifecycle Feature

UNCIA supports an optional Dynamic Lifecycle service.

• Enables automatic lifecycle data for products and hardware

• Can be enabled or disabled in General Settings

• Requires a service token provided by UNCIA

This feature was detailed in the Lifecycle section.

3.4 Logs

The Logs section provides access to:

• System logs related to General Settings

• Configuration and integration events

This is useful for troubleshooting and auditing.

Third-Party Integrations

4.1 Microsoft Azure Integration

UNCIA can be connected to Microsoft Azure to link design documentation with cloud infrastructure.

Required configuration:

• Tenant ID

• Client ID

• Client Secret

Usage:

• Once the infrastructure design is completed in UNCIA

• Assign an Azure subscription to the document

• This creates the link between design and build

4.2 ServiceNow Integration

UNCIA can integrate with ServiceNow for CMDB and compliance use cases.

Authentication options:

• API URL + Username + Password

• OAuth2

Additional configuration parameters are available and detailed in a dedicated section.

UNCIA API Access

UNCIA provides a REST API for automation and integration.

Key points:

• Only Organization Owners can manage API access

• Each authorized user can generate an API token

• The API documentation is accessible directly from the platform

This enables:

• Automation

• Data extraction

• Integration with external systems

Summary

The General Settings and Integrations section allows you to:

• Customize document list views

• Configure email notifications

• Enable SSO authentication

• Activate advanced features like Dynamic Lifecycle

• Integrate with Azure and ServiceNow

• Securely access the UNCIA API