Buliding N1™ Grid Solutions Preparing, Architecting, and Implementing Service-Centric Data Centers

Chapter 7. Strategic Flexibility

Part 1 developed a more detailed understanding of N1 Grid solutions. It provided examples of how implementing N1 Grid architectures uses familiar design fundamentals. Part 2 introduced the importance of architecture as a central theme. The architecture serves to organize and illustrate the movement from an environment of server-centric applications to an environment of network-centric services. That architecture is the focus of Part 3, beginning with the concept of strategic flexibility.

Before defining this concept, it is important to review the importance of architecture to the goal of achieving the vision of the N1 Grid. The N1 Grid vision is not a replacement for doing good architectural design work. The N1 ...