Thank you once again.
I forgot to mention my operating system which windows server 2000.
I run the tracert command on two separate ip addresses from the server and below is what i get:
Tracing route to 192.168.*.35 over a maximum of 30 hops
1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.
Tracing route to CASHOFFICE [192.168.*.27]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <10 ms <10 ms <10 ms CASHOFFICE [192.168.*.27]
Trace complete.
what does this mean and how does it help in resolving the problem.
In the creation of a network diagram, the diagram is actually the last and most trivial part. It allows you to visualize and solidify that which you have researched, but the most important part is getting that information about each device and piece of hardware.
In general, you will need the hardware version, software version, average throughput, and advertised throughput (found on any device spec sheet available either online or from the vendor). This will vary based on load, the age of all that stuff, etc...
I would recommend starting with two tests - test the speed of your network internally, and the speed of it going to an external site. That will tell you if the speeds are different or not (roughly - once again, I'd recommend doing this more than once) and you will have a general path of focus. From there, you can profile your network devices and the cables connecting them, and then go to the individual servers or desktops as necessary. It may be you have a vary old core router, and that is where the slowdown is. Or it may be that you have two or three PC's that are greatly infected with malware and that is clogging up your network.
If you are looking for the visualization tool, Microsoft's Visio is the most commonly used tool for this.