Taking the role of a software architect for the last 10 years starting at a small startup moving to Amdocs OSS devision and then to Wix as chief architect, I have gained some understanding of what it makes to do architecture.I can say today that software architecture is not about

• UML
• Those huge system box diagrams
• Writing documents

I count 4 different types of software architecture - each of the four is complex and can take a full presentation by itself.

• System architecture - the actual layout of process on hosts - what is a service, number of instances, how services collaborate, etc.
• Data architecture - the selection of data storage engines and their usage
• Build architecture - the dependencies between different artifacts and their impact on development and deployment
• Network architecture - the structure of your layer 1, 2 and 3 network with higher level services (Routers, VLANS, VPNs, etc).

I propose talking about software architecture - what is it, what practices and challenges an architect should focus on and how to bring value to an R&D organization. Resource management, self healing systems, containment of failure, caches, the symbiotic relation between architecture and organizational structure, etc.MP3