Terminology

2205 terms, tools, patterns and metrics an architect is expected to use precisely. Each one gets a short explanation of what it is, and — where it matters — what it is commonly confused with. Search filters as you type; the column headers sort.

All areas2205 Architecture Fundamentals77 Distributed Systems107 Data Architecture110 Cloud Architecture94 Networking88 API & Integration Architecture82 Reliability & Resilience75 Observability70 Performance & Capacity Engineering72 Security Architecture86 Cost Architecture & FinOps71 Business Architecture67 Architecture Communication67 Enterprise Architecture66 Legacy Modernization71 AI-Era Architecture69 Software Architecture & Engineering71 Architecture Patterns71 Architecture Decision-Making63 The Architect's Meta-Skills61 Delivery & Release Engineering66 Platform Engineering & Developer Experience70 Testing & Quality Architecture66 Data Platform Architecture64 Streaming & Real-Time Data69 Data Governance & Semantics69 Frontend & Experience Architecture66 Edge, Mobile & IoT68 Regulatory & Data Protection Architecture65 Assurance, Audit & Model Risk64

Kind Any concept794 practice734 pattern368 metric125 case-study77 tool62 protocol45

5 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
Archive-and-Shutdown Data-Preserving Decommission, Retire With Retention, Cold Archive Retirement	pattern	Decommissioning	Retiring an application by exporting its data to durable archival storage in a readable format and shutting the application down - separating the obligation to keep data from the obligation to keep software running.
Business-Cycle Observation Window Full-Cycle Shutdown Soak, Longest-Period Consumer Watch	practice	Decommissioning	Setting the period over which you watch for remaining consumers from the system's longest business cycle rather than from a round number of days, because a 30-day watch cannot see an annual job.
Decommissioning	practice	Decommissioning	Actually switching off and removing a replaced system, which is where the savings in every modernisation business case live.
Decommissioning Discipline	practice	Decommissioning	The work of actually switching a legacy system off, which is where migration savings are realised and which is routinely left undone.
Progressive Shutdown Graceful Decommissioning, Staged Retirement	practice	Decommissioning	Retiring a system through reversible stages - read-only, then blocked, then stopped, then removed - so each stage surfaces remaining consumers safely instead of breaking them.