Reference architecture
Group the running pieces so a failure domain is obvious.
Related: System context · Sequence / fan-out flow
When to use
Use after context, when the room needs boxes inside the system. Do not use to retell the business case (Consulting). Do not flatten every microservice.
Guidelines
Dashed groups with labels (edge / app / data). Title says why the split exists.
Example
Harbor in one DC
Keep scan, queue, and ledger in separate boxes so a jam cannot lock receiving.
Generic boxes · no vendor icons
Three groups, generic nodes. Steal failure-domain grouping, not a marketplace icon set.
Rules
- Groups have labels. Ungrouped boxes are a last resort.
- No official cloud icon packs.
- Title states an architectural constraint, not “Architecture.”
- Legend or source line names the abstraction level (one DC, one region).
User recipe
Goal: show internals at one abstraction.
Inputs: groups, nodes, the constraint.
Constraints: Reference architecture Rules.
Prompt skeleton: “Make a reference-architecture slide in family cloud-architecture using the Reference architecture rules. Groups: [list]. Constraint: [sentence]. Generic boxes only.”
Anti-patterns
- Every product in the bill of materials.
- Mixing a KPI table onto the diagram.