Infrastructure Architect

hi

There don’t seem to be any formal definition of what Infrastructure architecture is, the only one found by searching the web is from the Open Group where it is defined as:

Infrastructure architecture connotes the architecture of the low level hardware, networks, and system software (sometimes called "middleware") that supports the applications software and business systems of an enterprise.

The main thrust of this definition is to position Infrastructure Architecture relative to TOGAF and ends up as calling infrastructure architecture everything other than specific software project architectures which whilst not incorrect is a rather exclusive definition.
It would appear that there is not a formal definition of Infrastructure Architecture for IT so I have come up with my own:
Infrastructure Architecture is the set of abstractions used to model the set of basic computing elements which are common across an organization and the relationships between those elements.
So it would include the architecture of:
• Networks
• Storage
• Platforms
o Middleware
• Information
• Access Management
o Security
o Identity
• Management
o Deployment
o Provisioning

It does not include anything to do with design or operational processes or software design, these fall under the remit of SDLC, Operations Lifecycle and Software Architecture respectively. It does not include any business elements.It is a major subset of Enterprise Architecture and the platform for a Service Oriented Architecture. It does include Service Oriented Infrastructure and Grid.



The best post to explain it:

http://blogs.technet.com/michael_platt/archive/2005/08/16/409278.aspx

sAnTos