This document specifies the big data reference architecture (BDRA). The reference architecture includes concepts and architectural views.
The reference architecture specified in this document defines two architectural viewpoints:
- a user view defining roles/sub-roles, their relationships, and types of activities within a big data ecosystem;
- a functional view defining the architectural layers and the classes of functional components within those layers that implement the activities of the roles/sub-roles within the user view.
The BDRA is intended to:
- provide a common language for the various stakeholders;
- encourage adherence to common standards, specifications, and patterns;
- provide consistency of implementation of technology to solve similar problem sets;
- facilitate the understanding of the operational intricacies in big data;
- illustrate and understand the various big data components, processes, and systems, in the context of an overall big data conceptual model;
- provide a technical reference for government departments, agencies and other consumers to understand, discuss, categorize and compare big data solutions; and
- facilitate the analysis of candidate standards for interoperability, portability, reusability, and extendibility.