Hardware Architecture Diagram

Definition

A hardware architecture diagram is a mid-level architecture diagram work product that primarily documents the major physical (technology-dependent) hardware components within one or more tiers in the tier diagram.

Objectives

The typical objectives of a hardware architecture diagram is to:

• Document the hardware components, possibly including:
  • Name
  • Type (e.g., client, server, peripheral, storage device, support)
  • Vendor (manufacturer)
  • Model
  • IP Address
  • Operating System
• Document the networks, possibly including their:
  • Name
  • Types (Internet, intranet, extranet)
  • Topologies (e.g., Ethernet bus, star, token ring, peer-to-peer, grid, mesh)
  • Size (e.g., Wide Area Network, Metropolitan Area Network, Local Area Network, Storage Area Network)
  • Security (e.g., Virtual Private Network, unsecure)
  • IP Subnet Address
• Document the connections between the hardware components, possibly including their:
  • Media Types (e.g., coaxial cables, fiberoptic cables, infrared radiation, radiowaves, twisted wire cables)
  • Protocol (e.g., ATM, DECNET, Ethernet, FDDI, Frame Relay, IPX-XPS, ISDN, NETBUI, SNA, SONET, T1, T3, TCP/IP, Token Ring, X.25, xDSL)
  • Line types (e.g., dial-up line, dedicated line)
  • Traffic types (e.g., data, voice, image, or video)

Benefits

The typical benefits of a hardware architecture diagram are to:

• It drives the remainder of the architecting activity.
• It supports the following activities and tasks:
  • System Integration Testing.
  • Deployment:
    • Hardware Component Delivery.
    • Hardware Component Installation.
    • Hardware Component Configuration.
  • Operations:
    • Hardware Component Servicing.
    • Network Administration.

Contents

The typical contents of a hardware architecture diagram include:

• Hardware Component Icons for:
  • Client Computers:
    laptops, personal computers, personal digital assistants, set-top boxes, smart applicances, smart cards, smart phones, terminals, workstations.
  • Peripheral Devices:
    
    • Input Devices:
      barcode reader, camera, card reader, keyboard, microphone, mouse, palm reader, scanner, and sensor.
    • Output Devices:
      actuator, barcode writer, disk drive, fax machine, monitor, motor, printer, and speaker.
  • Server Computers:
    application servers, chat servers, database servers, email servers, file servers, gateway servers, load balancers, media servers, office servers, presentation servers, print servers, security servers, telephone servers, web accellerators, web servers, and wireless gateway servers.
  • Storage Devices:
    disk drive, disk library, tape drive, and tape library.
  • Support Hardware:
    air conditioners, fire suppression, physical security devices, and uninterruptable power supply.
• Network Icons for:
  • Networks:
    bus [network], extranets, grid network, Internet, intranets, local area networks (LANs), mesh networks, metropolitan area networks (MANs), peer-to-peer networks, ring networks, star networks, storage area networks (SANs), and wide area networks (WANs).
  • Network Connectivity Devices:
    access adapters, bridges, brouters, cables, caches, connectors, firewalls, gateways, hubs, modems, multiplexers, network interface cards, optical amplifiers, receivers, repeaters, routers, switches, and transmitters.
  • Network Connections:
    coaxial cables, fiberoptic cables, infrared radiation, radiowaves, twisted wire cables.

Stakeholders

The typical stakeholders of a hardware architecture diagram are:

• Producers:
  • Architecture Team
• Evaluators:
  • Project Manager
  • Technical Leader
• Approvers:
  • Project Manager
  • Technical Leader
  • Customer Representative
• Maintainers:
  • Architecture Team
  • Hardware Development Team
• Users:
  • Hardware Development Team

Phases

• Business Strategy: Not Applicable
• Business Optimization: Not Applicable
• Initiation: Completed
• Construction: Maintained
• Delivery: Maintained
• Usage: Maintained
• Retirement: Archived

Preconditions

Hardware architecture diagrams can typially be started if the following preconditions hold:

• The initiation phase has started.
• The architecture team is adequately staffed and trained in physical architecture production.

Inputs

The typical inputs to a hardware architecture diagram include:

• Work Products:
  • Application Vision Statement
  • System Requirements Specification
  • Tier Diagram
• Stakeholders:
  • Hardware Vendor Representatives

Guidelines

• Hardware architecture diagrams can document either logical or physical hardware components.
• If the diagram would be too complex due to the number of hardware components and networks, it can be decomposed into multiple diagrams, each typically oriented around a different tier in a n-tier hardware architecture.

Conventions

Hardware architecture diagrams are typically constrained by the following conventions:

• Work Flow
• Content and Format Standard
• Inspection Checklist

Examples

The following hardware architecture diagram documents the hardware components of a major data center. If a smaller, simpler data center is needed:

• Multiple networks can be combined.
• Multiple logical hardware components (e.g., server computers) can be combined to produce a smaller number of physical components.