The dependency order in IBM DataPower Gateway follows a clear hierarchical structure, from the physical or virtual platform down to individual configuration settings.

1. Appliance: This is the top-level container, representing the physical or virtual DataPower Gateway itself. All other components and configurations reside on the appliance.
2. Tenant: On supported models, an appliance can be partitioned into logically isolated instances called tenants. Each tenant receives a dedicated portion of the appliance's resources, effectively operating as a self-contained virtual appliance.
3. Domain: Within an appliance or a tenant, an application domain is a logical partition used to isolate development, testing, or production configurations. Each domain contains its own set of services and resources.
4. Object: An object is the most granular component. It represents a specific configuration instance, such as a Multi-Protocol Gateway, a processing policy, or a cryptographic profile, and always exists within a specific domain.

IBM DataPower Gateway v10.5.x Documentation, "Tenants": This document states, "A tenant is a logical grouping of a landlord-defined portion of the appliance resources." This establishes that a Tenant is a partition of the Appliance.

IBM DataPower Gateway v10.5.x Documentation, "Application domains": This source defines a domain as a logical partition in the DataPower Gateway. It explains, "With the exception of the default domain, each application domain is a configuration partition in the system." This places the Domain within the broader Appliance/Tenant structure.

IBM DataPower Gateway v10.5.x Documentation, "Configuration management": This section describes how configurations are made of objects and that these objects are managed within specific application domains. For example, when exporting a configuration, you select the objects from a specific domain, confirming that objects are nested within domains.