Terminology

2225 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 areas2225 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 Architecture74 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 Architecture69 Streaming & Real-Time Data69 Data Governance & Semantics74 Frontend & Experience Architecture66 Edge, Mobile & IoT68 Regulatory & Data Protection Architecture65 Assurance, Audit & Model Risk69

Kind Any concept801 practice736 pattern377 metric127 case-study77 tool62 protocol45

6 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
A/B Partition Update Dual-Bank Update, Seamless Update	pattern	OTA Updates	Writing a new device image to an inactive partition and switching to it only after verification, so that a failed update falls back to the known-good image instead of bricking the device.
A/B Partition Update	pattern	OTA Updates	Writing firmware to an inactive partition and switching on next boot, so a failed update falls back to the previous image rather than bricking the device.
Device-Side Refusal Local Precondition Check, The Device Decides	concept	OTA Updates	The rule that a device must refuse an unsafe instruction regardless of what the server commanded, because the server does not know the device's physical state.
Local Revert On-Device Rollback, A/B Partition Update, Watchdog Revert	pattern	OTA Updates	A device automatically returning to its previous known-good software or configuration when the new one fails, without needing to contact a server - the only mechanism that works when the failure prevents commu…
Over-the-Air Update OTA, Firmware Update	practice	OTA Updates	Updating software on deployed physical devices remotely, where a failed update can require someone to physically visit the device.
Update Long Tail Version Distribution Tail, Fleet Stratification	concept	OTA Updates	The persistent stratum of devices running old firmware because they were offline during rollouts - which grows across releases and is measured by version distribution rather than by rollout percentage.