diff --git a/R/build_binaries.R b/R/build_binaries.R
index 02cfd98..3a87a55 100644
--- a/R/build_binaries.R
+++ b/R/build_binaries.R
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ build_binary_package <- function(package_name, tag = NULL, codename = NULL,
                                  local_build_root = "/root",
                                  local_clone_dir = "/tmp",
                                  platform = NULL,
+                                 arch = NULL,
                                  install_system_dependencies = TRUE,
                                  deps_verbose = FALSE,
                                  debug = FALSE,
@@ -46,6 +47,14 @@ build_binary_package <- function(package_name, tag = NULL, codename = NULL,
 
   local_bin_path <- set_bin_path(r_minor_version, build_for_minor, local_build_root = local_build_root, codename)
 
+  # set arch
+  local_arch <- Sys.info()[["machine"]]
+  if (grepl("arm64", local_arch) || grepl("aarch64", local_arch)) {
+    arch <- "arm64"
+  } else if (grepl("amd64", local_arch) || grepl("x86_64", local_arch)) {
+    arch <- "amd64"
+  }
+
   if (debug) {
     cli::cli_alert_warning("DEBUG: dir_out_bin {dir_out_bin}.")
   }
@@ -96,7 +105,7 @@ build_binary_package <- function(package_name, tag = NULL, codename = NULL,
     tryCatch(
       {
         dump <- build_single_tag(x, y, dir_out_bin, local_clone_dir,
-          platform = platform, debug = debug, force = force,
+          platform = platform, arch = arch, debug = debug, force = force,
           install_system_dependencies = install_system_dependencies,
           deps_verbose = deps_verbose
         )
@@ -107,7 +116,7 @@ build_binary_package <- function(package_name, tag = NULL, codename = NULL,
           cli::cli_alert_success("Successfully built package {.pkg {x}} with tag {.field {y}}.")
         } else {
           cli::cli_alert_warning("Error in building package {.pkg {x}} with tag {.field {y}}: Uncommon/unspecific error during build.")
-          store_build_metadata(x, y, platform, error_occurred = TRUE, force = TRUE, error = "Uncommon/unspecific error during build")
+          store_build_metadata(x, y, platform, error_occurred = TRUE, force = TRUE, arch = arch, error = "Uncommon/unspecific error during build")
         }
       },
       error = function(e) {
@@ -115,7 +124,7 @@ build_binary_package <- function(package_name, tag = NULL, codename = NULL,
         local_clone_dir_single <- sprintf("%s/%s_%s", local_clone_dir, x, y)
         unlink(local_clone_dir_single, force = TRUE, recursive = TRUE)
         # only stderr contains the important information why the build failed
-        store_build_metadata(x, y, platform, error_occurred = TRUE, force = TRUE, error = e$stderr)
+        store_build_metadata(x, y, platform, error_occurred = TRUE, arch = arch, force = TRUE, error = e$stderr)
       }
     )
   }
@@ -154,8 +163,10 @@ build_binary_package <- function(package_name, tag = NULL, codename = NULL,
 #' @importFrom fs file_size file_move
 #' @export
 build_single_tag <- function(
-    package_name, tag = NULL,
+    package_name,
+    tag = NULL,
     platform,
+    arch,
     dir_out_bin,
     local_clone_dir,
     debug = FALSE,
@@ -181,7 +192,7 @@ build_single_tag <- function(
       # NB: here we need to use conditionMessage() to extract the actual error - as opposed to using $stderr for errors within the tryCatch used in the future* calls
       error = function(e) {
         cli::cli_alert_warning("Error in installing dependencies for package {.pkg {package_name[1]}} with tag {.field {tag[1]}}: {e}")
-        store_build_metadata(package_name[1], tag[1], platform, error_occurred = TRUE, force = TRUE, error = conditionMessage(e))
+        store_build_metadata(package_name[1], tag[1], platform, arch = arch, error_occurred = TRUE, force = TRUE, error = conditionMessage(e))
         return(TRUE)
       }
     )
@@ -217,7 +228,7 @@ build_single_tag <- function(
         cli::cli_alert_warning("Error in starting build command for package {.pkg {package_name}} with tag {.field {tag}}: {e}")
         local_clone_dir_single <- sprintf("%s/%s_%s", local_clone_dir, package_name, tag)
         unlink(local_clone_dir_single, force = TRUE, recursive = TRUE)
-        store_build_metadata(package_name, tag, platform, error_occurred = TRUE, force = TRUE, error = sprintf("Error trying to initiate pkgbuild - likely a non-valid R package structure. Full error: %s", e))
+        store_build_metadata(package_name, tag, platform, arch = arch, error_occurred = TRUE, force = TRUE, error = sprintf("Error trying to initiate pkgbuild - likely a non-valid R package structure. Full error: %s", e))
         return(invisible(TRUE))
       }
     )
@@ -228,28 +239,27 @@ build_single_tag <- function(
       linux_suffix <- "gnu"
     }
 
+    # set tarball id for arch
     local_arch <- Sys.info()[["machine"]]
     if (grepl("arm64", local_arch) || grepl("aarch64", local_arch)) {
-      arch <- "aarch64"
-      whatever_id <- "unknown"
+      tarball_id <- "unknown"
     } else if (grepl("amd64", local_arch) || grepl("x86_64", local_arch)) {
-      arch <- "x86_64"
-      whatever_id <- "pc"
+      tarball_id <- "pc"
     }
 
     if (!file.exists(sprintf("%s/%s_%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag))) {
       if (debug) {
-        cli::cli_alert_info('{.fun build_single_tag}: DEBUG: Moving package from {.path {sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, whatever_id, linux_suffix)}} to {.path {sprintf("%s/%s_%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag)}}')
+        cli::cli_alert_info('{.fun build_single_tag}: DEBUG: Moving package from {.path {sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, tarball_id, linux_suffix)}} to {.path {sprintf("%s/%s_%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag)}}')
       }
       # double-check that file exists (some packages like https://github.com/cran/BACCO/tree/1.0-14 don't include R/ and hence don't procude a valid binary)
-      if (fs::file_exists(sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, whatever_id, linux_suffix))) {
+      if (fs::file_exists(sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, tarball_id, linux_suffix))) {
         # remove _aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu/musl part in filename
         fs::file_move(
-          sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, whatever_id, linux_suffix),
+          sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, tarball_id, linux_suffix),
           sprintf("%s/%s_%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag)
         )
       } else {
-        cli::cli_alert_info('{.fun build_single_tag}: File for package {.pkg {package_name}} {.field {tag}} at {.path {sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, whatever_id, linux_suffix)}} does not exist - skipping.')
+        cli::cli_alert_info('{.fun build_single_tag}: File for package {.pkg {package_name}} {.field {tag}} at {.path {sprintf("%s/%s_%s_R_%s-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz", dir_out_bin, package_name, tag, arch, tarball_id, linux_suffix)}} does not exist - skipping.')
         if (debug) {
           message(sprintf("DEBUG: Listing dir 'dir_out_bin': %s", dir_out_bin))
           message(fs::dir_ls(dir_out_bin))
@@ -275,7 +285,7 @@ build_single_tag <- function(
 
     tarball_name <- sprintf("%s_%s.tar.gz", package_name, tag)
     if (fs::file_exists(sprintf("%s/%s", dir_out_bin, tarball_name))) {
-      store_build_metadata(package_name, tag, platform, error_occurred = FALSE, force = force, build_duration = total_build_time, size = file_size)
+      store_build_metadata(package_name, tag, platform, arch = arch, error_occurred = FALSE, force = force, build_duration = total_build_time, size = file_size)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/R/metadata-build.R b/R/metadata-build.R
index 6a4eed5..25b525b 100644
--- a/R/metadata-build.R
+++ b/R/metadata-build.R
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #' Stores build metadata of single binary builds in a Postgres DB
 #' @importFrom DBI dbConnect dbDisconnect dbWriteTable dbGetQuery dbExecute
 store_build_metadata <- function(
-    package_name, tag, platform, error_occurred,
+    package_name, tag, platform, error_occurred, arch,
     force = FALSE, error = NA, build_duration = NA, size = NA) {
   con <- DBI::dbConnect(RPostgres::Postgres(),
     dbname = "build_metadata", host = "r-binaries.devxy.io",
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ store_build_metadata <- function(
   # Check if an entry with the same package_name and tag already exists
   existing_entries <- dbGetQuery(con, paste0(
     "SELECT * FROM single_builds WHERE name = '",
-    package_name, "' AND tag = '", tag, "' AND platform = '", platform, "'"
+    package_name, "' AND tag = '", tag, "' AND platform = '", arch, "' AND arch = '", platform, "'"
   ))
 
   if (nrow(existing_entries) >= 1 && !force) {
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ store_build_metadata <- function(
       name = package_name,
       tag = tag,
       platform = platform,
+      arch = arch,
       error_occurred = error_occurred,
       error_text = error,
       size = size,
@@ -90,7 +91,9 @@ build_metadata_summary <- function(package_name, platform) {
       ", percentage_successful_builds = ", summary$percentage_successful_builds,
       ", average_build_time_per_tag = '", summary$average_build_time_per_tag,
       "', package_name = '", package_name,
-      "', platform = '", platform, "'"
+      "', platform = '", platform, "'",
+      "', arch = '", platform, "'",
+
     ))
   } else {
     dbWriteTable(con, "metadata_summary", summary)
diff --git a/man/archive_package.Rd b/man/archive_package.Rd
index fe58177..da3a68e 100644
--- a/man/archive_package.Rd
+++ b/man/archive_package.Rd
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ archive_package(
   endpoint = "https://s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com",
   region = "eu-central-003",
   bucket = "devxy-arm64-r-binaries",
-  pause = NULL
+  pause = NULL,
+  arch = NULL,
+  debug = FALSE
 )
 }
 \description{
@@ -21,5 +23,6 @@ Archive packages in CRAN-like repositories
 }
 \examples{
 archive_package("AATtools", codename = "rhel9")
+archive_package("adw", codename = "rhel8", arch = "amd64")
 
 }
diff --git a/man/build_binary_package.Rd b/man/build_binary_package.Rd
index 798c5cc..8ed2cd9 100644
--- a/man/build_binary_package.Rd
+++ b/man/build_binary_package.Rd
@@ -13,11 +13,14 @@ build_binary_package(
   local_build_root = "/root",
   local_clone_dir = "/tmp",
   platform = NULL,
+  arch = NULL,
   install_system_dependencies = TRUE,
   deps_verbose = FALSE,
   debug = FALSE,
   force = FALSE,
-  archive = TRUE
+  archive = TRUE,
+  future_strategy = "multisession",
+  future_workers = 2
 )
 }
 \description{
diff --git a/man/store_build_metadata.Rd b/man/store_build_metadata.Rd
index 25ec899..740205d 100644
--- a/man/store_build_metadata.Rd
+++ b/man/store_build_metadata.Rd
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ store_build_metadata(
   tag,
   platform,
   error_occurred,
+  arch,
   force = FALSE,
   error = NA,
   build_duration = NA,