System Architecture & Design - Research Paper Example

System Architecture and Design Table of Content I. Introduction ………………………………..………………………………..........3 II. Summary………………………………..…………………………………….……3 III. Risk analysis……………………………………………………………………….3 IV. Project plan………………….…………………………………………………......4 V. Technical documentation……………………………………………….………….5 VI. Summary of coding process…………………………………………………….….6 VII. Simple user guide……………………………………………………..…....7 VIII. Basic maintenance guide………………………………………….………..8 IX. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..…..….9 X. References……………………………………………………………………....….11 Introduction The traditional design and techniques used by the hard drives has a negative impact on their performance. The techniques cause a slow performance of the drives. For instance the drives operate at a very low speed and also power. Thus, this becomes hard in retrieving vital information from the drives. Therefore, the system design needs to improve the hard drives to increase their performance speed. System architecture is the specific model of a concept that describes the structure and the behavior of a given system. System architecture represents a system of structure and the components of the system. Thus, the design of the hard disk drive acts as a system solution provider for the users. Developing the design of the disk drive includes some specific features like the application of the programming software systems to achieve this goal. Additionally, it is essential for the designer to ensure that the work undergoes documentation and recording. This is because this work can be improved in the future. Therefore, the importance of documentation is to keep the work for future references. Thus, the designer ought to document a part of the process that is significant for the intellectual purposes and for future reference (Ndjountche, 2006). Summary The hard disk architecture and design process identifies the specific design and architecture, the study and also solving of a specific domain problem in the hard disk drive. The design involves the analysis of the drive system. The analysis of the domain requires adequate time for creating a proper form of the disk drive design. The design ought to be well so that it becomes easier for the user to implement effectively. This achievement can only occur when the hard disk design undergoes proper and thorough evaluation. Most often the requirements specifications of the hard disk design normally pass through drastic changes during its development process before the final implementation process. This is basically because of the users’ demands toward the system design (Tabbara, Tabbara & Sangiovanni- Vincentelli, 2000). Risk Analysis Risk analysis is the key factor during any preparation and also during the implementation of this system design. The risks involved with the disk design are in various categories, which include requirement risks, technical risks, and the organizational risk. The requirement risks include the use of the formal description instead of the prototypes requirements. There might also be some level of uncertainty for the user to accept the requirements. The hard disk design is also at the risk of unclear means of the requirement implementation process, which include the unclear responsibility of the forms and the procedures from the administration. Additionally, there is the risk of missing requirements for the operational procedures, the unclear contract agreement, and the condition requirements. The design may also be at the risk of the organization where the clients’ participation is not clear, the risk of the management expectation, and the project operations and resources risks. Eventually, the disk design is at the technical risk that involves the technology, the infrastructure, and the skills uncertainties (Tabbara, Tabbara & Sangiovanni- Vincentelli, 2000). Project Plan The mechanism in which this project undergoes requires effective planning. This is because the system development steps are essentially critical and requires keenness and much attention. Designing a hard disk system involves the application of various forms of diagrams. The procedure of designing and planning involves a thorough understanding of the system domain and the architectural components of the system. Therefore, for a developer to achieve this there must be a thorough investigation and enquiries on this system design in advance. First the developer ought to be familiar with the system domain in details before starting to design it. This is the primary step involving the disk drive system design planning. A well written form of the system requirements ought to be the next step in planning for this project designing. The developer is to read and fully understand the requirements set before commencing the task of designing the hard disk drive system. Otherwise, if the requirement document is not readily available, the designer can instead utilize the web and also the online sources to read the requirements before commencing the task. Additionally, the designer can further ask for assistance from the expertise working in the same field. This will eventually increase the chances of the design system to be of high quality and more effective for utilization (Tabbara, Tabbara & Sangiovanni- Vincentelli, 2000). For instance, the original design of the IBM was not capable of supporting any form of a hard drive. This is because the program code that the BIOS program was using was unable to recognize these devices. Moreover, the DOS model was also incapable of recognizing these types of mass storage form. The design uses the HBAs controller to control the functioning of multiple hard drives simultaneously. This controller also manages to retrieve data from multiple drives at a high speed. The HBA controller helps in the simplification of the OS functions. This is because the controller can control and also manage the hard drive. The diagram above shows an example of the hard disk drive design using the ATA controller. The design saves power and it is quick in data retrieval process (Creasey, 2006). Technical Documentation For an efficient technical documentation, the designer ought to use simple terms for easier understanding by the users. This will help the user to understand the particular processes that the hard drives system uses. There is visualization of the architectural design model on the structure and also the architectures elements behavior. The act of visualization assists the designer in comprehending the whole design clearly. This is through opening up of the component of the system that is hidden. Furthermore, it involves the easy identification of the hidden components of the hard drive system and also thorough understanding on how these various components of the system design are capable of fitting well. Additionally, the designer can tell how these components of the system are interacting with the other components (Solari & Congdon, 2000). The technical documentation is also achieved through drawing the various kinds of diagrams for the hard drive architecture. The drawing is normally done to make the understanding of the system design to be easy for the users. The main principle upon which the design of the architecture is utilize is a place-holder for a more complete exposition of the fundamental principles. Thus, the drive design procedure begins with these requirements and seeks to extract from them the salient features of the architecture. The design process assumes an object style for describing the components within the architecture as well as within the designs of conforming systems. The architecture design process modifies in the light of relevant results and experience where these recognize shortcomings or reveal acceptable improvements. The manual will thus evolve and update frequently. The architectural process utilizes two similar concepts namely; Entities and Objects. It is important to be clear about the disparity between the two concpts. An entity is an outline description of a likely object, as expressed within the requirements. An object is a result of the analysis of these requirements by the designer (Solari & Congdon, 2000). Summary of Coding Process made against the Technical Design The hard disk design is using a specific coding process. The hard disk design is of a hybrid type. The drive is vital because it utilizes less power. The design can read and also write data using small power source. This system is further able to boot at a fast rate. This gives the user the opportunity to access data instantly. Furthermore the hard drive asserts reliability to the user by having a low level of operation cycle. The analysis of the requirements depends on an understanding of perspectives, and the corresponding opinions from these perspectives of the system designing. The first step in developing an understanding of perspectives is to place a conceptual bridge around the entire system. The boundary isolates the system from the rest of the world. The separation is complete such that no interaction can happen between them. Extra perspectives may show when the analysis is underway, and the designers may remix the perspective groups to acquire more significant insights into the system (Solari & Congdon, 2000). The requirements analysis proceeds in four steps. First, the input requirements are analyzed to extract the main perspectives following this major component classes and instances are identified and cross-referenced. This follows an analysis that checks the relative amounts of requirements material concerning each perspective and component. This simplifies the requirements collection by highlighting those areas inadequately covered in currently available material (Kamal, 2002). Simple User Guide The users of this system architecture and design include a variety of individuals. For instance, the business people and the administrative department, the marketing sector and also the accounting section of the business. The guide assists the users to know the areas to apply the design system. For instance, all the areas of this system are in a way all the users can comprehend and apply. The guide explains how the user can retrieve and also upload documents into the system. The guide further shows how the user can view the documents and how to edit without restriction (Kamal, 2002). Basic Maintenance Guide The main basic maintenance guides to follow in the disk drive system designing includes the perspective analysis extracts and characterization of points of view of the main groups of individuals concerning the system. Second, there is the entity analysis that extracts the classes and instances of entities referred to in the requirements documentation, and collects the references to them. Furthermore, there is the balance analysis that checks that the various perspectives and entities have sufficient requirements material that refers to each of them, to ensure adequate confidence in the relevance of the following steps. Additionally, there is the situation that derives from the original requirements in this step, and illustrates the expected usage patterns. There is the material obtained by the perspective and entity analysis are put in tables in the identity matrix, and undergoes analysis to identify the objects composing the model of the system at the analysis level, removing duplication, uncertainty, and inadequacy in the requirements (Kamal, 2002). Conclusion The design utilizes the technique of the input the process and finally the output of data. This design should be suitable for utilization by a large group of system designers and further it must be applicable in a variety of sectors of production. The hard disk design addressed is easy to use and has an easily understood design. The only limitation noted are the risks that require thorough analysis to avoid them and to ensure flow of work. The failure to assess and also to manage any form of risks can lead to loss of clear project plan that can consequently cause failure to manage the project and responsibility towards the work. References Advanced Networked Systems Architecture (ANSA). (1986). Architecture design manual. Retrieved from http://www.ansa.co.uk/ANSATech/86/AO1010.pdf Kamal, R. (2002). Embedded systems: architecture, programming and design. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill publication. Ndjountche, T. (2006). A digital adaptive filter architecture for hard disk drive read channels. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=4267278 Solari, E., & Congdon, B. (2000). PCI Express design and system architecture. Digital Guru Publication. Tabbara, B., Tabbara, A., & Sangiovanni- Vincentelli, A. (2000). Function/architecture Optimization and co-design of embedded systems. Massachusetts, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Read More