Part 4 - Architecting vSphere - Remember the Design Dimensions & Process - From My vForum Prezo!

This article is the Part 4 of the Series "Architecting vSphere Environments". Here are the other 3 parts which I would highly recommend to read:-

• Part 1 - Architecting vSphere Clusters - A scoop from my vForum Prezo!

• Part 2 - Architecting vCenter Single Sign On (SSO) - A Scoop from my vForum Prezo!

• Part 3 - Architecting Storage for vSphere Environments - A Scoop from my vForum Prezo!

I have a very strong feeling that this should actually be the Part 1 of this entire series. In this article we will have a quick look at the different facets of a vSphere Design and also throw some light on the processes and procedures one needs to follow to create a successful architecture for a vSphere or that matter any IT infrastructure.

While I write this, I realize that processes can be a little boring as compared to technical stuff. However in my experience, no matter how technical one is, unless and until you have a correct approach to an architecture, you will end up failing 9 times out of 10. This approach to architecture forms the Process.

Let us have a quick look on some of the dimensions or facets which are involved in designing and architecting a vSphere Environment and briefly discuss them before looking at the stages in  design process. This time around I would like to give the content credit to VMware vSphere Design Book authors - Forbes Guthrie, Scott Lowe & Maish Saidel-Keesing. The way they explain this topic in the mentioned book is absolutely fantastic. The slide below depicts the same:-

I have seen articles about this concept from this book before. I still wanted to include this in my presentation and this article since I experience these facets on a daily basis while doing projects of  small to large scale. 

If you take up any environment which you need to architect, you would need to consider the Technical Facet, Organizational Facet & the Operational Facet. With each facet you need to ask yourself and the project members, questions would help you to create a design which not only help meet the requirements but also helps you define the scope of the project.

• With Technical Dimension, you would go into your favorite questions which would usually be questions with "WHAT"?

• With Organizational Dimension, you start looking at Responsibility, Authority and Accountability related concerns, hence the questions begin with "WHO"

• &, With Operational Dimension, you look at the most important part of an Architecture which might impact the Operational Procedures and Processes.

Therefore, the above mentioned facets are very important and it is critical that we give them utmost importance in the entire process of Architecting a vSphere environment. With this, let's see what are the various stages in a design process:-

If you carefully walk through all the stages in the design process, you would end up with a successful Design and the right tools to implement and validate the design. With this I will close this article and I hope the recommendations in this article will help you adopt the right strategy when you architect a vSphere environment for any organization.

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