Platform Architecture Report: Recommendations to the Information Technology Investment Board and the Architecture Review Board Version 1.0, Created on December 20, 2003 Approved by the Information Technology Investment Board on March 3, 2004 Prepared by: Virginia Information Technologies Agency Strategic Management Services Directorate Policy, Practices and Architecture Division Platform Domain Architecture Team Platform Architecture Version 1.0 December 20, 2003 (This page is blank, intentionally.) ii Platform Architecture Version 1.0 December 20, 2003 Platform Architecture Creation and Review Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) Platform Domain Team Members Chris Williams ..................................................................... VITA, Customer Support Services Brian Epley ........................................................................................ VITA, Business Systems Dave Kiser ....................................................................................... VITA, Computer Services Deborah Lewis.................................................................................. VITA, Computer Services Dave Matthews ................................................................................ VITA, Computer Services Cindy Bryce ..................................................................................... VITA, Computer Services Karen Lusk ....................................................................................... VITA, Computer Services Sam Murdock.................................................................................... VITA, Computer Services Diane Wresinski (Domain Team Facilitator)................ VITA, Strategic Management Services Strategic Management Services Review Jerry Simonoff, the Director of Strategic Management Services within VITA, and Paul Lubic, the Policy, Practices and Architecture Manager within Strategic Management Services, provided the initial review of the domain team’s report. VITA Directors’ Review VITA directors reviewed the Platform Architecture draft prior to its release for the 30-day online review. This review constituted the first review by the Architecture Review Board. Agency Online Review Participation of all agencies was encouraged through an on-line review and comment period of 30 days. The review period was extended an extra week at the request of one agency. Review by Technology Businesses and the Public Technology businesses were actively encouraged to use the online review and comment tool or to provide comment by other means. Reviews by the VITA Architecture Review Board and the Information Technology Investment Board (ITIB) The recommendations in this document are divided into two groups for approval, technical and operational. The operational recommendations will receive additional consideration by VITA as plans are made to incorporate the recommendations into agency operating plans. The technical requirements in tables and in the summary will be considered for ITRM policies and standards. Although both the ITIB and the Architectural Review Board have approved the entire report, some recommended requirements will be considered for policy and standard incorporation and others will result in VITA operational changes. iii Platform Architecture Version 1.0 December 20, 2003 (This page is blank, intentionally.) iv Platform Architecture Version 1.0 December 20, 2003 Table of Contents Executive Summary...................................................................................................................ix Platform Domain Team Mission................................................................................................1 Background................................................................................................................................3 Methodology ..............................................................................................................................7 Platform Architecture Definition .......................................................................................... 7 Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 7 Platform Architecture Scope......................................................................................................9 Definition: Personal Computing Devices ............................................................................. 9 Desktops............................................................................................................................ 9 Notebooks ....................................................................................................................... 10 Handhelds ....................................................................................................................... 10 Definition: Servers.............................................................................................................. 10 Definition: Storage.............................................................................................................. 10 Principles .................................................................................................................................11 General Principles............................................................................................................... 11 Principles for Personal Computing Devices ....................................................................... 11 Principles for Servers.......................................................................................................... 12 Principles for Storage.......................................................................................................... 12 Platform Domain Technical Topics.........................................................................................13 Technical Topic #1: Personal Computing Devices............................................................. 14 Virginia’s “As Is” Architecture for Personal Computing Devices ................................. 15 Commonwealth’s Goals for the Personal Computing Architecture ............................... 17 Issues/Challenges............................................................................................................ 18 Technology Component Trends...................................................................................... 19 Personal Computing Technologies—Generally ......................................................... 23 Displays....................................................................................................................... 24 Chipsets....................................................................................................................... 25 Peripherals................................................................................................................... 25 Wireless Connectivity Devices................................................................................... 26 Microsoft or Open Systems—OS and Productivity Software Decisions.................... 27 Target OS and Productivity Software......................................................................... 30 Desktop and Notebook OSs........................................................................................ 31 Related Hardware and Media...................................................................................... 31 PDAs........................................................................................................................... 32 Additional Recommendations......................................................................................... 35 Selecting Hardware Components................................................................................ 35 Life Cycle for Hardware and Software....................................................................... 37 Outsourcing................................................................................................................. 39 Technical Topic #2: Servers ............................................................................................... 39 Virginia’s “As Is” Architecture for Servers.................................................................... 41 High-end Servers ........................................................................................................ 41 Midrange to Low-end Servers .................................................................................... 43 All Servers .................................................................................................................. 43 v Platform Architecture Version 1.0 December 20, 2003 Servers Providing Network, Email, File or Print Services ......................................... 45 Commonwealth’s Goals for the Server Architecture...................................................... 46 Issues/Challenges............................................................................................................ 48 Technology Component Trends...................................................................................... 48 Overview..................................................................................................................... 48 Interconnects............................................................................................................... 49 Technologies..............................................................................................................