To provide a basis for understanding the physical distribution of the system across a set of processing nodes, an architectural view called the deployment view is used in the Analysis & Design workflow. The deployment view (one of five views - see below) illustrates the distribution of processing across a set of nodes in the system, including the physical distribution of processes and threads. The deployment view is refined during each iteration.

The deployment view shows the physical distribution of processing within the system.

There are four additional views, the Use-Case View (handled in the Requirements workflow), and the Logical View, Process View, and Implementation View; these views are handled in the Analysis & Design, and Implementation workflows.

The architectural views are documented in a Software Architecture Document. You may add different views, such as a security view, to convey other specific aspects of the software architecture.

So in essence, architectural views can be seen as abstractions or simplifications of the models built, in which you make important characteristics more visible by leaving the details aside. The architecture is an important means for increasing the quality of any model built during system development.