Types of System Architecture

A system architecture or systems architecture is the conceptual model that defines the structure, behavior, and more views of a system. An architecture description is a formal description and representation of a system, organized in a way that supports reasoning about the structures and behaviors of the system.

A system architecture can comprise system components, the externally visible properties of those components, the relationships (e.g. the behavior) between them. It can provide a plan from which products can be procured, and systems developed, that will work together to implement the overall system. There have been efforts to formalize languages to describe system architecture, collectively these are called architecture description languages (ADLs).

Overview[edit]

Various organizations can define systems architecture in different ways, including:

• The fundamental organization of a system, embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and to the environment, and the principles governing its design and evolution.
• A representation of a system, including a mapping of functionality onto hardware and software components, a mapping of the software architecture onto the hardware architecture, and human interaction with these components.
• An allocated arrangement of physical elements which provides the design solution for a consumer product or life-cycle process intended to satisfy the requirements of the functional architecture and the requirements baseline.
• An architecture comprises the most important, pervasive, top-level, strategic inventions, decisions, and their associated rationales about the overall structure (i.e., essential elements and their relationships) and associated characteristics and behavior.
• A description of the design and contents of a computer system. If documented, it may include information such as a detailed inventory of current hardware, software and networking capabilities; a description of long-range plans and priorities for future purchases, and a plan for upgrading and/or replacing dated equipment and software.
• A formal description of a system, or a detailed plan of the system at component level to guide its implementation.
• The composite of the design architectures for products and their life-cycle processes.
• The structure of components, their interrelationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time.

One can think of system architecture as a set of representations of an existing (or future) system. These representations initially describe a general, high-level functional organization, and are progressively refined to more detailed and concrete descriptions.

System architecture conveys the informational content of the elements comprising a system, the relationships among those elements, and the rules governing those relationships. The architectural components and set of relationships between these components that an architecture description may consist of hardware, software, documentation, facilities, manual procedures, or roles played by organizations or people.

A system architecture primarily concentrates on the internal interfaces among the system's components or subsystems, and on the interface(s) between the system and its external environment, especially the user. (In the specific case of computer systems, this latter, special, interface is known as the computer human interface, AKA human computer interface, or CHI; formerly called the man-machine interface.)

One can contrast a system architecture with system architecture engineering (SAE) - the method and discipline for effectively implementing the architecture of a system:

• SAE is a method because a sequence of steps is prescribed to produce or to change the architecture of a system within a set of constraints.
• SAE is a discipline because a body of knowledge is used to inform practitioners as to the most effective way to architect the system within a set of constraints.

History[edit]

Systems architecture depends heavily on practices and techniques which were developed over thousands of years in many other fields, perhaps the most important being civil architecture.