Appian is an enterprise software platform that includes core components that work with other systems (database server, mail server) to provide capabilities and services to users. The following diagram illustrates the components of a typical Appian installation in greater detail:

All core components of the Appian architecture can be configured to support backup/restore and failover for high availability. Since Appian depends on other systems it is equally important to ensure that all associated components are similarly configured for high availability and recovery.For more information on Appian's capabilities as they pertain to support tiers, see Customer Support.The sections below walk through the Appian architecture to explain what each component does and how they interact, as well as links to additional documentation resources.