#system architecture

[germanpostwarmodern]

At the height of its distribution in the late 1960s and early 1970s system building also was having a hard time: criticized as one of the reasons for the perceived monotony of the cities its adversaries picked it to pieces. And yet the history of system building is full of good intentions aimed at reducing building costs and time through prefabrication and standardization. The concept was particularly widespread in Switzerland and makes up the majority of postwar buildings, a circumstance that also relates to the numerous systems developed in the country. Although Fritz Haller’s steel frame system probably is the best known example there literally are dozens of others, sometimes tailored to a specific typology, sometimes more general in layout. ICOMOS Suisse and the research group „System & Serie“ haven taken to the heritage of system building and in a long-term interdisciplinary research project explored the manifold building systems and inventoried the remaining buildings designed on their basis. At the same time the researchers posed preservation and durability questions in order to determine long neglected monument values. The result of seven years of research is „System & Serie: Systembau in der Schweiz – Geschichte und Erhaltung“, edited by ICOMOS Suisse/Arbeitsgruppe System & Serie and recently published by GTA Verlag: the book approaches Swiss system building from various angles and offers analyses going way beyond architecture: history, sociology, building physics and historic preservation are equally taken into account and contribute to the comprehensive picture painted in the book. By highlighting both the advantages and the disadvantages of system building with regards to economies of scale, perceived monotony as well as the extensive transportation requirements associated with it the authors provide a well-balanced and differentiated analysis. What emerges from it is a fresh perspective on an undeniably important aspect of postwar architecture that, as the extensive and detailed catalogue of buildings proves, is diverse and far from monotonous. Against this background the book is the perfect source for an in-depth reappraisal and highly recommended!

[rhosigmaa]

Understanding System Architecture: The Base of Technology Solutions

Introduction

System architecture is part of systems design and development; it cuts across all levels, from embedded systems to wide enterprise solutions. It is simply a blueprint designed to depict how different elements of a system interact with each other and function. If defined correctly, System architecture ensures that the systems developed are efficient, scalable, and maintainable.

System architecture refers to the structured outline used in the conceptualization of software elements, relationships, and properties. It calls for the definition of the components that will characterize the system, how such components interact with each other, and the general structure. Properly designed architecture gives a clear plan for development as well as scalability in the future.

Components

The building blocks of the system may include hardware, software, and data, among other components:

Relationships: Those aspects of interaction that occur between the entities, such as interactions that occur between data and control flow.

Properties: Those properties of the system in terms of how scalable it is, dependable, and efficient.

Importance of System Architecture

System architecture should never be downplayed because system architecture does define how the system performs, is secure, and can be maintained. Some other valuable benefits include the following:

Improved Performance

A defined system architecture can better enable optimized data flow and resource utilization, thus improving system performance.

Scalability

A good architecture is expandable. That is, if the system is to evolve, using a scalable architecture means that new components can be added smoothly without crippling the system.

Maintainability

Easily maintainable and updateable systems are the result of clear architectural guidelines. This translates to lesser future development costs and effort.

Risk Management

Possible problems can be identified earlier in the design of the architecture. Using this information, risks can be mitigated and expensive failures avoided in the later stages of development.

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Key Features of System Architecture

Hardware Architecture

It refers to the physical hardware components in the system, which include servers, workstations, and network devices. Understanding hardware architecture is required for having better performance with fewer compatibility problems.

Software Architecture

This involves software components and their interactions. It refers to the operating system, middleware, and application software. Structured software architecture helps in organizing codes and reuse.

Data Architecture

Data architecture is the framework as to how data will be collected, stored, and processed. It encompasses ideas of database design, data flow diagrams, and a system of control of the body of data. Data integrity and accessibility can only be guaranteed by a good data architecture.

The System Architecture Design Process

A number of steps are involved in designing a robust system architecture. These are as follows:

Requirements Gathering

The very first step in defining the architecture involves understanding the needs and requirements of the users of the system. This includes both functional and non-functional requirements.

Architectural Patterns

To begin with, appropriate architectural patterns need to be chosen. Very popular patterns are layered architecture, microservices, and event-driven architecture. Each pattern has its pros and cons in accordance with the goals pursued in the project.

Component Design

It is necessary to define individual components and how they will interact. That includes specifications of interfaces, protocols, and data exchanges.

Documentation

Documentation of the architecture is fundamental and will be useful later in the maintenance and production chain. Clear documentation helps developers understand the system structure and functions of the system.

System Architecture Challenges

Complexity Management

It becomes problematic as such systems grow complex to manage. Robust architecture is challenging to balance with simplicity.

Integration Issues

It may be hard to ensure they all work together, especially when integrating legacy systems with new technologies.

Evolving Requirements

Requirements tend to evolve during the design process. Adaptation of architecture to satisfy changing requirements can involve a great deal of rework.

Future of System Architecture

Advances in technology are fast changing the future of system architecture. Concepts like cloud computing, IoT, and artificial intelligence are shaping the general approach toward system design. As these technologies advance, architects must be able to shape their strategies around using new capabilities while facing the demands of modern applications.

Conclusion

System architecture, in summary, plays a very important role in system design based on performance, scalability, and maintainability. With this full understanding of all components and practice of best practices, efficient and adaptable systems to the best needs of organizations can be developed.

Ready to optimize your systems? Our expert system architecture services is now available to perfect your systems. Contact us & complete your system architecture set up.

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[mihirjaiswal]

A System Architect’s Perspective on Quantum Computing: An Interview with Dr. Gokul Subramanian Ravi

Dr. Gokul Subramanian Ravi has been a career computer scientist. He is an assistant professor and active researcher in quantum computing at the University of Michigan. In this interview, we talked about the philosophy and technology of quantum computers. Dr. Ravi talked about quantum computers, its need, current state, architecture, and quantum advantage at length. While this interview is more technical than previous ones in quantum chats, it is very enjoyable and informative.

Mihir: Why do we need quantum computers? Classical computers are getting better every day. Can’t we just use classical computers for everything?

Dr. Ravi: That’s a good question. The classical computers’ capability is not increasing as fast as it used to be. We all have heard about Moore’s law failing. Thus, there is a fundamental need for new technology. We want more computing capabilities in any form, not specifically quantum computing. Today, computing and computers are the most fundamental driver of innovation. We want to keep pushing for new innovations. That reason motivates us towards emerging technologies, quantum computing being one of them. Some problems are exponentially hard to solve. That means the computational resources required to solve such problems increase exponentially with the increase in problem size. Classical computers quickly reach their limitations in addressing this kind of problem. For example, to discover new medicines, you want to understand chemistry between two chemical molecules. You can’t mix thousands to chemicals together in the lab and study them, so computer simulations are done. Computational models for solving such problems represent each molecule as some numerical interaction and perform calculations to predict the molecular interactions. As the size of molecule increases, the numerical equations become exponentially complicated and soon reach the limits of classical computers. The reason for that is at the molecular level, when we are considering electrons; we cannot ignore some of the non-trivial forces, which we generally ignore in day to day calculations like gravity. With number of electrons, these forces become very large in numbers, hence the exponential growth of the problem. These are called quantum mechanical properties.

When Richard Feynman proposed quantum computing, the idea was that we needed a device that was able to simulate quantum mechanical properties and such a device would be quantum computing machine. Thus, quantum computer is specifically of interest for solving large-scale scientific problems in physics, chemistry etc. Other problems, like factoring, also have important application of quantum computing. If you are able to factor a number quickly, that has implication in security and cryptography. Factoring is a classical problem, not quantum, but there is a method that can solve factoring faster than a classical computer can. Quantum computer has a long way to do. However, in theory, there are quantum, classical as well as scientific problems that can be solved more efficiently using quantum computer than any classical computer.

Mihir: As you said, classical computers are reaching its capacity and no longer growing as fast as they were. As a result, we need new technologies to fill that gap and continue expanding our computational power. Is quantum computing one such new technology or are we calling a group of technologies quantum computing? Are we able to define quantum computer today?

Dr. Ravi: Again a very good question. In general, we would define quantum computer as a technology that is able to exploit quantum mechanical properties towards computing. Within that definition, all different technologies like supercomputing qubit, trapped ion qubit, neutral atoms, and photonic qubits are quantum technology. In their own way they all are exploiting quantum mechanics. If we are being very specific than you are absolutely right that quantum computing is an umbrella term. However, broadly they all fall within the same scope of exploitation of quantum mechanics.

Mihir: In my understanding, a problem has to be converted to a mathematical formula to make an algorithm that can be computed by a classical computer. Is that true for quantum computing also?

Dr. Ravi: I would say yes and no. I would approach this question in two different ways. Think of a problem which can be solved 90% on a classical computer and only last 10% needs a quantum computer because that last part is really exponentially hard. In classical computer, we would use an approximation and perhaps accept a 90% solution. We still need mathematical formula to reach that 90% solution and then improve beyond 90% using a quantum computer. We want to continue to use classical computer to go as far as we can, because quantum computer is always going to be an expensive resource. Now the other question: is the quantum computing also based on a mathematical formula? I would argue, yes to some extent. Let’s take an example of a classical computer. In designing a complex machine learning algorithm, the algorithm would have complex metrics, its addition, multiplication and many complex mathematical operations. When coded onto a classical computer, a compiler would take that and through multiple steps ultimately pass down to transistors. Transistors would always work in a series of 0 and 1, no mathematical formula there. Thus, classical computer is formulas up to transistors and then it is just transistors’ natural property of 0 and 1. Quantum computer is not much different. Let’s take example of chemistry. Let’s assume that we are trying to find energy of some chemical molecule, a common problem in chemistry. There are techniques like Jordan Wigner method, which converts fermionic (chemistry) form to the qubit form. There would be cleaning and optimization steps to remove non-important components from the molecular formula and properties. Finally, the qubit form is run on a quantum computer. If we assume there are twenty steps in calculating molecular energy, than nineteen of them are mathematical like cleaning, optimization, Jordan Wigner transformation and so on. Only the twentieth step is quantum computing, similar to going to the transistors in classical computing. Mathematics and software gets less focus in quantum computing, because everybody is focused on qubits. Whereas in classical computing, we don’t think about transistors anymore.

Mihir: Let’s pivot now to system architecture. What is the simplest way to define system architecture irrespective of technology?

Dr. Ravi: Entire system is made up of multiple layers known as abstraction layers. One layer is an application like zoom or software doing chemistry calculations. Second layer is algorithm that application runs on. Then you have instruction layer like instruction set architecture which runs your device. To convert algorithm to instructions, you need a compiler. You may also have an operating system that is doing resource management. Another layer is micro architecture of the computer, which is how the computer is designed. This micro architecture has components like circuits and circuits are made up of transistors for classical bits or qubits. System architecture is interactions between these different layers. Hardware architects focus on interactions between circuits, transistors and qubits like hardware components. Architects working at micro-architecture levels organize components within a processor. Other types of system architects deal with interaction between compiler and hardware, or compiler and algorithm, or stacking servers to build complex super-computing architecture. System architect is a broadly defined term for a group of experts working anywhere among different layers of hardware and software and they understand the pathway from application to technology. It is a complex pathway and system architects usually work on only a subset of different layers.

Mihir: How has the role of system architect evolved over the year?

Dr. Ravi: Yes, the role has definitely changed over the years. That change has come based on the needs. During the seventies, there were so many opportunities and needs in a single layer of the stack that a person can focus on being expert of just one layer like on micro-architecture or compiler. Early 2000s, computers started to reach limits of computational power within a single core and multi-core systems became a norm. That prompted change in the role of some system architects. They asked questions about parallelization of processes, dependencies between applications and different cores and other questions that system architects did not think about before. Because the capacity of processors was not increasing rapidly, the focus shifted to building accelerators. Again that had an impact on role of system architects. The architects needed to look at multiple layers from application to processors, but they were focusing on just one application. Earlier system architect’s role was broad within a layer or two. Modern system architect’s role has become deeper than broader.

Mihir: While systems architecture was evolving for classical computing we had opportunities to try and fail. Now that we have all these knowledge about computing, we have to use our knowledge in quantum computing. We do not have enough opportunity to try new things and fail, isn’t it?

Dr. Ravi: Again, a very good question. On one hand it has been a huge positive that we have learned to build a full stack in classical computing and we can apply that knowledge to quantum computing. For example, IBM has been at the forefront of building system architecture for classical computing; it is applying that knowledge to the quantum computing and doing very well. On the other hand some of the strategies and habits that work in classical computing may not work in quantum computing. In emerging technology you can’t start with being broadly expert in one layer like how classical computing started. We have to be flexible. As other layers are evolving, system architect in quantum computing needs more depth and flexibility in their knowledge and approach.

[vieformidable]

The picture of earth from space that we will rarely be shown

[fairsweetlonging]

just saw a comment on tiktok saying that the bamboo house is called that because it's set in the bamboo forest, and not because it's made of bamboo, and i uh. i feel betrayed. and very dumb

[science70]

"The University Library of the Future" envisioned in an Armstrong C-60 Luminaire Ceiling System ad, 1966.

[robertocastigliaphotography]

Milky Way. Rocca Calascio. Abruzzo, Italy.

[otherside-wanderer]

Hybrid sorter hub and its three branches - read more about its structure, how it works, and the development process below the cut!

General Structure

For this survival world, my friends and I decided to split up our resources in three different branches, all connected by one central hub. The fourth "branch" is an access hallway (not shown) that contains minecart rail stations. As of now, only one station is built, but the hallway also contains a room where any unsorted items flow out to - this room also contains its own sorter input!

You might notice redstone bulbs in the copper pillars along each hallway - activating these will reveal both a crafting table and stonecutter at the base of the pillar for easy crafting access. Also, the three branches have their own quirks since they were each organized and completed by a different builder - see if you can spot any differences (aside from the items being sorted)!

Redstone & Underbelly

During development, we decided that the sorter didn't need to be fully automatic like our last one - instead, we wanted a way to combine automatic and manual sorting, hence this hybrid design. Only the top rows (and about a dozen barrels in the middle and bottom rows) along each branch leverage automatic sorting - this was to simplify the sorter design and allow for better scalability. This is also why some of our most plentiful items are placed on the top row. We love Minecraft updates, but adding new blocks and items to a sorter can be tough!

Including manual sorting allows us to store unstackables as well as different kinds of items in the same barrel. Although there are some great designs out there for unstackable or multi-item sorters, we wanted this build to be our own and not have to worry about chunk alignment, minecarts, or having to construct it with build assist tools. If you're interested in the redstone for our automatic sorter modules, check out this post about our previous sorter! Our current one applies the concepts in similar ways.

Like our last sorter, @shewholistens has been doing an amazing job standardizing and decorating the Underbelly, which is still in progress. Having all of our sorter modules and hopper lines accessible (and good-looking) is such a boon, especially when doing work behind the scenes. Currently, the Underbelly is accessible via hidden doors at the end of each branch!

Development process

This was a big project. Since building our last sorter, we learned a lot about what works and what doesn't, and decided to carry that knowledge over to this one. In our new world, we put together a document detailing things we wanted in our sorter and how they would all fit together. These included item organization, a hybrid sorting system, input and output chests, crafting access points, a player-friendly underbelly, and - of course - decoration.

This prep work was by far the most important part of the sorter building process, and it allowed us to break the project into small, manageable pieces. It reminded me a lot of the work I do as a software engineer, and it was so exciting to see the sorter get built module by module, branch by branch.

Before I forget - huge thanks to @indigoforiver for convincing me that we needed a sorter! Our chest/shulker monster was... very bad...

[2001hz]

Selfridges (2003) Designed By: Future Systems Location: Birmingham, England United Kingdom

Heavily inspired by Paco Rabanne’s 1964-1966 sequin dress.

[philcoulsonismyhero]

There's a lot of lines in Amongst Our Weapons that make me want to wave my arms around and yell incoherently about Peter and Nightingale and how far they've come and how much they mean to each other, but right now the one I want to yell about the most is this one from right at the end:

Image text: 'The wider the base, the greater the stability of the building,' said Nightingale. 'You taught me that.'

Because, like. Peter wanted to be an architect. The thing he always wanted to do was to build things. And look what he's built! He hasn't just rebuilt the Folly as it was, he's built something modern and completely new out of its constituent parts and he's done it by caring about people and being interested in how things work and by what Beverly jokingly calls 'compulsive networking'.

And everything he's done for the Folly, he's done for Nightingale on a personal level too.

Nightingale was So isolated when Peter first met him. His police colleagues didn't want much to do with him, his social circle seemed to consist of Molly and Dr Walid and not much more, he was completely out of touch with the modern world. And to his credit, he was the one who decided to take on an apprentice, but that was pretty much all he was planning to do. Train up a replacement for himself in case he got killed, pass on the Forms and Wisdoms properly, keep the status quo going.

But he chose Peter, and suddenly he's got an apprentice who wants to study the science behind magic and modernise the Folly's record keeping and work out better ways to liaise with other police and fundamentally Make Changes. Nightingale ends up with all these connections through Peter, to Beverley and the other Thames girls, to Lesley, to Abigail, eventually to the rest of Peter's family, to other police like Guleed and Stephanopoulos and unfortunately for him Seawoll... He has people he can rely on, and who choose to rely on him, and not just for magic -I especially love how Peter's mum eventually starts using him to babysit Peter's dad, and the fact that he helps Abigail's family with her brother. He's not alone anymore, and he goes from just living to genuinely thriving.

And it's all down to Peter, and what the two of them have built together. In fact, they've built something so significant that in a few years Nightingale isn't going to be necessary anymore. He's been Britain's Last Official Wizard for seventy years, all the weight of that tradition resting on his shoulders alone, and in a handful of years Peter has helped him to build something that'll be able to take the weight instead if he wants it to. There are people who can help do everything he's been doing alone and more, so finally he can think about what he actually wants for himself. (And don't even get me started on his arc re: teaching and discovering that it's what he wants to do for the rest of his life, I Will start yelling even more.)

And it's Peter who's taught him to let other people take the weight. That you can build something stable and lasting if you're willing to share the load. The wider the base, the greater the stability of the building.

Not bad for a wannabe architect who can't draw, huh?

[searchsystem]

Gregor Sailer / The Polar Silk Road – North Warning System, Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada / Photography / 2020

[hjemne]

The French are so funny because instead of having art as a general category meaning a creation with beauty, they listened to Hegel about there only being 6 distinct categories of art, but then as the world develops people kept on going 'well THIS is artistic, but it's distinct from those other kinds of creative categories' and then adding new categories. Like, my guys, there is beauty to be found in all of mankind's creations. Give up on the number system. If you can get your head around the holy trinity being one god in three forms, you can also get your head around there just being ART despite its many forms. But they won't change because their govt and society are conservative and white supremacist and adding increasingly bizarre numbers of art forms to a Eurocentric and classical model is preferable to any form of fluidity and change in the culture

[keepingitneutral]

DublDom Kandalaksha, Kandalaksha, Russia,

DublDom in Association with Bio Architects

[juliaknz]

FUTURE SYSTEM HAUER-KING HOUSE, 1994 London, UK

[vityuuwrites]

i am making more research for a throwaway line describing shen qingqiu's living space in a fic than mr airplane shooting across the sky has for pidw in his whole life

[rafefar]

Fishing off the Juno Pier at sunrise