Network Analysis, Architecture and Design, Second Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking)

5.7 Systems and Network Architectures

You may find that, in the process of developing a network architecture, you may also need to develop a systems architecture. A systems architecture is a superset of a network architecture; that is, it also describes relationships, but the components are major functions of the system, such as storage, clients/servers, or databases, as well as the network. In addition, devices and applications may be expanded to include particular functions, such as storage. For example, a systems architecture may include a storage architecture, describing servers, applications, a storage-area network (SAN), and how they interact with other components of the system.

From this perspective, the systems architecture considers the total or comprehensive picture, including the network, servers/clients, storage, servers, applications, and databases (Figure 5.27). Potentially, each component in the system could have its own architecture. There are likely to be other components, depending on the environment that the network is supporting.

Figure 5.27: Systems architecture.

In contrast, the network architecture considers the relationships within and between each of the network architectural components (Figure 5.28).

Figure 5.28: Network architecture.

In this case, Figure 5.28 is one of the components of Figure 5.27. You may find that you have the start of a systems architecture with your network architecture. You can then use the network architecture as a core from which to build the systems architecture. The goal here is for you to be aware that the network architecture process may lead to areas outside of networking. When that happens, you can choose to ignore those areas, try to incorporate them into the network architecture, or expand your architecture to include a systems architecture. Chapters 6 through 9 discuss each of these network architectural components.