Various organizations can define systems architecture in different ways, including:
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 consisting of 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 HCI; 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:13
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.
With the increasing complexity of digital systems, modern systems architecture has evolved to incorporate advanced principles such as modularization, microservices, and artificial intelligence-driven optimizations. Cloud computing, edge computing, and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) have also influenced architectural decisions, enabling more scalable, secure, and fault-tolerant designs.
One of the most significant shifts in recent years has been the adoption of Software-Defined Architectures (SDA), which decouple hardware from software, allowing systems to be more flexible and adaptable to changing requirements.14 This trend is particularly evident in network architectures, where Software-Defined Networking (SDN)15 and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) enable more dynamic management of network resources.16
In addition, AI-enhanced system architectures have gained traction, leveraging machine learning for predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, and automated system optimization. The rise of cyber-physical systems (CPS) and digital twins has further extended system architecture principles beyond traditional computing, integrating real-world data into virtual models for better decision-making.17
With the rise of edge computing, system architectures now focus on decentralization and real-time processing, reducing dependency on centralized data centers and improving latency-sensitive applications such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, and IoT networks.18
These advancements continue to redefine how systems are designed, leading to more resilient, scalable, and intelligent architectures suited for the digital age.
Several types of system architectures exist, each catering to different domains and applications. While all system architectures share fundamental principles of structure, behavior, and interaction, they vary in design based on their intended purpose. Several types of systems architectures (underlain by the same fundamental principles19) have been identified as follows:20
Hannu Jaakkoррмшлинla and Bernhard Thalheim. (2011) "Architecture-driven modelling methodologies." In: Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases XXII. Anneli Heimbürger et al. (eds). IOS Press. p. 98 ↩
Paul C. Clements (1996) "A survey of architecture description languages." Proceedings of the 8th international workshop on software specification and design. IEEE Computer Society, 1996. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/assets/Survey_of_ADLs.pdf ↩
Nenad Medvidovic and Richard N. Taylor (2000). "A classification and comparison framework for software architecture description languages." Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on 26.1 (2000): 70-93. ftp://ftp.ics.uci.edu/pub/arch/papers/TR-UCI-ICS-97-02.pdf ↩
Nejad, Bobby (2023), Nejad, Bobby (ed.), "The Physical Architecture", Introduction to Satellite Ground Segment Systems Engineering: Principles and Operational Aspects, Space Technology Library, vol. 41, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 187–197, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-15900-8_13, ISBN 978-3-031-15900-8, retrieved 2022-12-07 978-3-031-15900-8 ↩
From ANSI/IEEE 1471-2000. /wiki/ANSI ↩
From the Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. http://www.cmu.edu ↩
From The Human Engineering Home Page's Glossary. Archived 2015-02-13 at the Wayback Machine http://www.manningaffordability.com/s&tweb/HEResource/Other/Definitions.htm ↩
From OPEN Process Framework (OPF) Repository Archived 2006-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. http://www.opfro.org/Components/WorkProducts/ArchitectureSet/Architectures/Architectures.html ↩
From The National Center for Education Statistics glossary. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/tech/glossary.asp ↩
TOGAF /wiki/TOGAF ↩
From IEEE 1220-1998 as found at their glossary Archived 2006-05-17 at the Wayback Machine. /wiki/IEEE ↩
The Method Framework for Engineering System Architectures, Donald Firesmith et al., 2008 /wiki/Donald_Firesmith ↩
Zeng, Ruiqi; Niu, Yiru; Zhao, Yue; Peng, Haiyang (2022). Liu, Shuai; Ma, Xuefei (eds.). "Software Architecture Evolution and Technology Research". Advanced Hybrid Information Processing. Cham: Springer International Publishing: 708–720. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-94551-0_54. ISBN 978-3-030-94551-0. 978-3-030-94551-0 ↩
"Software-defined Networking", Wikipedia (in German), 2024-10-21, retrieved 2025-03-03 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software-defined_Networking ↩
Ziemann, Jörg (2022), Ziemann, Jörg (ed.), "Enterprise Architecture in a Nutshell", Fundamentals of Enterprise Architecture Management: Foundations for Steering the Enterprise-Wide Digital System, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 23–60, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-96734-5_2, ISBN 978-3-030-96734-5, retrieved 2025-03-03 978-3-030-96734-5 ↩
Michaels, Paul (2022). "Software Architecture by Example". SpringerLink. doi:10.1007/978-1-4842-7990-8. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-7990-8 ↩
Nejad, Bobby (2023), Nejad, Bobby (ed.), "The Physical Architecture", Introduction to Satellite Ground Segment Systems Engineering: Principles and Operational Aspects, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 187–197, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-15900-8_13, ISBN 978-3-031-15900-8, retrieved 2025-03-03 978-3-031-15900-8 ↩
The fundamental principles of Systems Architecture, by Boris Golden http://borisgolden.com/systems_architecture.html#principles ↩
The Art of Systems Architecture, Mark Maier and Eberhardt Rechtin, 2nd ed 2002 /w/index.php?title=Mark_Maier&action=edit&redlink=1 ↩
Abbas, Karim (2023). "From Algorithms to Hardware Architectures". SpringerLink. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08693-9. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-08693-9 ↩
Abbas, Karim (2023). From Algorithms to Hardware Architectures. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08693-9. ISBN 978-3-031-08692-2. S2CID 251371033. 978-3-031-08692-2 ↩
Michaels, Paul (2022). Software Architecture by Example. doi:10.1007/978-1-4842-7990-8. ISBN 978-1-4842-7989-2. S2CID 248408249. 978-1-4842-7989-2 ↩
Zeng, Ruiqi; Niu, Yiru; Zhao, Yue; Peng, Haiyang (2022). "Software Architecture Evolution and Technology Research". In Liu, Shuai; Ma, Xuefei (eds.). Advanced Hybrid Information Processing. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering. Vol. 416. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 708–720. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-94551-0_54. ISBN 978-3-030-94551-0. S2CID 246051702. 978-3-030-94551-0 ↩
Musukutwa, Sheunopa Chalmers (2022), Musukutwa, Sheunopa Chalmers (ed.), "Developing an Enterprise Architecture", SAP Enterprise Architecture: A Blueprint for Executing Digital Transformation, Berkeley, CA: Apress, pp. 51–92, doi:10.1007/978-1-4842-8575-6_3, ISBN 978-1-4842-8575-6, retrieved 2025-03-03 978-1-4842-8575-6 ↩
Markusheska, Nastasija; Srinivasan, Venkatachalam; Walther, Jan-Niclas; Gindorf, Alex; Biedermann, Jörn; Meller, Frank; Nagel, Björn (2022-07-01). "Implementing a system architecture model for automated aircraft cabin assembly processes". CEAS Aeronautical Journal. 13 (3): 689–703. doi:10.1007/s13272-022-00582-6. ISSN 1869-5590. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13272-022-00582-6 ↩