diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/architecture.py b/lib/spack/spack/architecture.py
index 0c4b605e91..829aaa4c1c 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/architecture.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/architecture.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 import spack
 import spack.error as serr
 from spack.version import Version
-
+from external import yaml
 
 class InvalidSysTypeError(serr.SpackError):
     def __init__(self, sys_type):
@@ -43,41 +43,81 @@ def __init__(self):
         super(NoSysTypeError, self).__init__(
             "Could not determine sys_type for this machine.")
 
+class Architecture(object):
+    def __init__(self, *arch_name):
+        
+        """ Constructor for the architecture class. Should return a dictionary of name (grabbed from uname) and a strategy for 
+            searching for that architecture's compiler. The target passed to it should be a dictionary of names and strategies.
+        """
+        self.arch_dict = {}
+        self.arch_name = arch_name
+
+    def add_arch_strategy(self):
+        """ Create a dictionary using the tuples of arch_names"""
+        for n in self.arch_name:
+            if 'cray' in n.lower():
+                self.arch_dict[n] = "MODULES"
+            if 'linux' in n.lower() or 'x86_64' in n.lower():
+                self.arch_dict[n] = "PATH"
+            else:
+                self.arch_dict[n] = None 
 
 def get_sys_type_from_spack_globals():
-    """Return the SYS_TYPE from spack globals, or None if it isn't set."""
+    """Return the SYS_TYPE from spack globals, or None if it isn't set. Front-end"""
     if not hasattr(spack, "sys_type"):
-        return None
+        return None 
     elif hasattr(spack.sys_type, "__call__"):
-        return spack.sys_type()
+        return Architecture(spack.sys_type())
     else:
-        return spack.sys_type
-
-
-def get_sys_type_from_environment():
-    """Return $SYS_TYPE or None if it's not defined."""
-    return os.environ.get('SYS_TYPE')
+        return Architecture(spack.sys_type)
 
+# This is livermore dependent. Hard coded for livermore
+#def get_sys_type_from_environment():
+#    """Return $SYS_TYPE or None if it's not defined."""
+#    return os.environ.get('SYS_TYPE')
 
 def get_mac_sys_type():
-    """Return a Mac OS SYS_TYPE or None if this isn't a mac."""
+    """Return a Mac OS SYS_TYPE or None if this isn't a mac.
+       Front-end config
+    """
+
     mac_ver = py_platform.mac_ver()[0]
     if not mac_ver:
         return None
 
-    return "macosx_%s_%s" % (
-        Version(mac_ver).up_to(2), py_platform.machine())
+    return Architecture("macosx_%s_%s" % (Version(mac_ver).up_to(2), py_platform.machine()))
 
+def get_sys_type_from_uname():
+    """ Returns a sys_type from the uname argument 
+        Front-end config
+    """
+    return Architecture(os.uname()[0] + " " + os.uname()[-1])
+
+def get_sys_type_from_config_file():
+    """ Should read in a sys_type from the config yaml file. This should be the first thing looked at since
+        The user can specify that the architecture is a cray-xc40
+    """
+      
+    home_dir = os.environ["HOME"]   
+    yaml_file = os.path.join(home_dir, ".spack/architecture.yaml")
+    if os.path.isfile(yaml_file):
+        with open(yaml_file) as config:
+            config_dict = config['architecture']
+            front_end = config_dict['front']            
+            back_end = config_dict['back']
+    return Architecture(front_end)
 
 @memoized
 def sys_type():
-    """Returns a SysType for the current machine."""
+    """Returns a SysType for the current machine. Should return output to an 
+       Architecture class
+    """
     methods = [get_sys_type_from_spack_globals,
                get_sys_type_from_environment,
                get_mac_sys_type]
 
     # search for a method that doesn't return None
-    sys_type = None
+    sys_type = (None,None)
     for method in methods:
         sys_type = method()
         if sys_type: break
@@ -90,3 +130,4 @@ def sys_type():
         raise InvalidSysTypeError(sys_type)
 
     return sys_type
+