Patent ID: 7730057

Claim:
A method for providing an architecture for a computer data system, the method comprising: defining, prior to physically building and implementing the computer data system, a virtual solution architecture that includes a plurality of balanced partition units (BPUs), each BPU defined by a combination of specified resources required to operate the BPU and provide a balanced operation for that BPU, the resources including processing power, memory, input/output capability, and software, each BPU characterized by the balanced operation that includes using each resource efficiently for system operation and avoiding underutilization of the resources, the virtual solution architecture being mappable to a plurality of different physical hardware configurations, wherein the defining of the virtual solution architecture includes expanding the BPUs into a balanced configuration unit (BCU) architecture, wherein the BCU architecture includes at least one BCU, and the at least one BCU includes at least one of the BPUs, wherein the at least one BCU includes one or more system components specified more generally than in the physical solution architecture; and mapping the virtual solution architecture to a physical solution architecture for the computer data system, the physical solution architecture being a particular one of the different physical hardware configurations, wherein the mapping includes mapping the BCU architecture to the physical solution architecture for the computer data system, the physical solution architecture specifying particular hardware and software products to implement the at least one BCU.