Talend Physical Reference Architecture: Introduction
What is Reference Architecture?
A Reference Architecture is:
- A defined set of architectural guidelines to be shared across teams, applications, and systems.
- A standardized terminology for use across the business (process, component, application, system, service, etc.).
- A means to support technical decision making, utilizing prior experience and best practices.
How is a Reference Architecture created?
- The collective knowledge and experience of the Qlik Professional Services team and other technical colleagues, gained from engaging with our customers
- Product messaging, vision and roadmap from the Talend Product Management team
![](/talend/en-US/talend-physical-reference-architecture/8.0/Content/Resources/images/Inputs_to_a_Reference_Architecture.png)
Types of Reference Architecture
Reference Architectures come in many forms. A non-exhaustive list of 'types' is shown below:
- Software Architecture
- System Architecture
- Application Architecture
- Conceptual Architecture
- Logical Architecture
- Physical Architecture
- Business Architecture
- Information System Architecture
- Integration Architecture
- Data Architecture
How to use a Reference Architecture
A Reference Architecture is intended to inform a decision-making process. The following diagram illustrates how the a specific set of requirements (such as the requirements of your organization or projects) are combined with the Reference Architecture in order to come to an actual architecture, suited to your needs:
![](/talend/en-US/talend-physical-reference-architecture/8.0/Content/Resources/images/How_to_use_a_RA.png)