Reference Architecture: The Building Blocks of an Agile, Flexible, Scalable, and Sustainable Foundation. Many IT professionals believe that they need to start from scratch when designing their IT infrastructure because

their business needs are unique and require specifi c strategies for a successful implementation. However, having

a reference architecture in place simplifi es decision making because it provides an initial blueprint that allows

you to quickly develop multiple reference designs from the same architecture based on your business needs. This

eliminates the task of you having to redesign your infrastructure without the proper expertise and allows you to

rely on known and tested solutions.

As IT designs evolve and new technologies are developed, this approach allows you to employ reusable

building blocks. With a solid reference architecture, you have the ability to modify the design for your business

requirements, and understand how next generation technologies will advance your data center or enterprise to

support future needs.

Without a solid reference architecture, there is no model to create designs that address your particular business

requirements. Reference architectures create the sustainable IT foundation that will accommodate your changing

business needs.

Advisory Services

Reference ArchitectureThe primary vision of an IT organization that includes a strategic purpose, principles, technical positions, patterns and a commonly understood vocabulary.

Reference Design

The designs for a specific system or application. For example, if you are building a reference design for a cold aisle containment system, you might have reference designs for 5-cabinet, 10-cabinet and 20-cabinet cold aisle containment layouts.

Application Note

Application notes are the “how to,” guides to implement the reference designs.

Reference Library HierarchyReference Library Hierarchy

High-level vision

Reference Architecture

Logical/Physical/Facility DesignReference Design

Application NoteDown to the last nut and bolt

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2

Building Your Reference ArchitectureThe key elements of a reference architecture are:

1. Strategic Purpose

2. Principles

3. Technical Positions

4. Patterns

5. Vocabulary

1. Strategic Purpose explains context, scope, goals, purpose, and intended uses.

Building a reference architecture should involve all stakeholders, including IT, facilities, fi nance,

operations, marketing, sales, corporate communications, human resources, and shared services.

Each stakeholder brings a different perspective that is crucial when considering the business needs

of the entire organization.

2. Principles are high-level statements, general rules and guidelines that direct how an organization

fulfi lls its mission.

Depending upon your business industry, there may be more guiding principles than in other industries.

For example, the healthcare industry has federal, state and local regulations, insurance industry

constraints as well as Medicare/Medicaid, and the industry’s guiding principles. A healthcare company

might also require that new facilities or expansions are energy effi cient or that formal processes be

implemented and stakeholders trained on the processes before any new technology is launched.

3. Technical Positions are the established requirements that launch uniform engineering or technical

criteria, methods, processes and practices.

Technical Positions are probably the most familiar component of IT. Whether it is using American

Society of Heating, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 2011 Thermal Guidelines or

the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) TIA-942 specifi cations for facility planning,

structured cabling systems and network design, most IT organizations use industry guidelines and

best practices in addition to manufacturers’ recommendations as a foundation for technical standards.

Different industries have distinct business requirements: the mandatory processing speed for the

fi nancial services industry will be much faster than the processing speed expected for a

government agency.

4. Patterns are the reusable models for completing a task.

Patterns help effi ciency in designing and implementing a reference design and developing

application notes.

5. Vocabulary is the use of key terms and defi nitions to promote common understanding and use.

It is not wise to assume that the IT team at corporate headquarters will have the same understanding

of a document as the IT team in another location. Common understanding of terms and approaches is

important for the effective implementation of reference designs.

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Reference Design: The Modular Building Blocks of Reference ArchitectureWhile a reference architecture is the guide for principles and vision within the business, reference designs are the

modular building blocks that help navigate the course.

In the following example, the reference architecture has been established, allowing a team to develop versions of

reference designs for a specifi c application.

Reference Design #1 might be the design of a 10-cabinet row on a slab. Reference Design #2 might be the design

of a 10-cabinet row on a raised fl oor. Reference Design # 3 might be a design of a 15-cabinet row on a slab.

Topic Reference Architecture Reference Design Application Guide

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Matrix of Reference Library Components

Reference Architecture

Reference Design #1

Application Note #1 Application Note #2Application Note #1 Application Note #2 Application Note #3 Application Note #1 Application Note #4

Reference Design #2 Reference Design #3

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All of these designs are built with the ideals set forth in the reference architecture, even though they are designed

for specifi c applications. These reference designs are the building blocks that can be used throughout an IT

organization to provide a more agile, fl exible and scalable foundation and allow an IT organization to evolve into

new technologies.

Application Notes: The “How To’s” of Reference ArchitectureThe fi nal component of reference architecture is application notes. Application notes provide the step-by-step

guide on how to implement the reference design and should be detailed enough so that any installer or technical

resource is able to perform the implementation.

Reference LibrariesOnce you build a reference architecture, you have a valuable tool to build your reference library around. This tool

provides all stakeholders with:

• The framework for optimizing their technical resources in support of business and

technical requirements

• A method to deliver knowledge and expertise in standard systems to:

– Drive consistency in planning with a common language (taxonomy)

– Increase confi dence

– Shorten decision cycles

The benefi ts of reference libraries include:

• Focusing stakeholders on a common solution baseline

• Reducing risk by relying on known and tested solutions

• Simplifying decision making

• Enabling more re-use

• Providing consistent models, capabilities and equipment

• Improving service and support

• Helping deploy solutions that meet customer’s specifi c business issues

• Delivering a baseline for requisite skill sets needed to manage the systems depicted within

Additional benefi ts include:

• Fosters cooperation by breaking down barriers between constituencies with traditionally differing

points of view and rooted distrust of each other:

– Network personnel vs. server personnel vs. facilities personnel

– Consultants

• Minimizes delays due to:

– “Writer’s Block” Syndrome

– Procrastination

– Analysis Paralysis

Reference architectures are becoming more and more prevalent and are accommodating next generation

networks. By understanding reference architectures, you are able to grow and evolve instead of being trapped

with performing the traditional “rip and replace.” You can now build a future-proof facility that will advance

with the technology to support your business needs.