IT infrastructure

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A server is a physical component to IT Infrastructure. Wikimedia Foundation Servers-8055 35.jpg
A server is a physical component to IT Infrastructure.

Information technology infrastructure is defined broadly as a set of information technology (IT) components that are the foundation of an IT service; typically physical components (computer and networking hardware and facilities), but also various software and network components. [1] [2]

Contents

According to the ITIL Foundation Course Glossary, IT Infrastructure can also be termed as “All of the hardware, software, networks, facilities, etc., that are required to develop, test, deliver, monitor, control or support IT services. The term IT infrastructure includes all of the Information Technology but not the associated People, Processes and documentation.” [3]

Overview

In IT Infrastructure, the above technological components contribute to and drive business functions. Leaders and managers within the IT field are responsible for ensuring that both the physical hardware and software networks and resources are working optimally. IT infrastructure can be looked at as the foundation of an organization's technology systems, thereby playing an integral part in driving its success. [4] All organizations who rely on technology to do their business can benefit from having a robust, interconnected IT Infrastructure. With the current speed that technology changes and the competitive nature of businesses, IT leaders have to ensure that their IT Infrastructure is designed such that changes can be made quickly and without impacting the business continuity. [5] While traditionally companies used to typically rely on physical data centers or colocation facilities to support their IT Infrastructure, cloud hosting has become more popular as it is easier to manage and scale. IT Infrastructure can be managed by the company itself or it can be outsourced to another company that has consulting expertise to develop robust infrastructures for an organization. [6] With advances in online outreach availability, it has become easier for end users to access technology. As a result, IT infrastructures have become more complex and therefore, it is harder for managers to oversee the end to end operations. In order to mitigate this issue, strong IT Infrastructures require employees with varying skill sets. The fields of IT management and IT service management rely on IT infrastructure, and the ITIL framework was developed as a set of best practices with regard to IT infrastructure. The ITIL framework assists companies with the ability to be responsive to technological market demands. Technology can often be thought of as an innovative product which can incur high production costs. However, the ITIL framework helps address these issues and allows the company to be more cost effective which helps IT managers to keep the IT Infrastructure functioning. [7]

Background

Even though the IT infrastructure has been around for over 60 years, there have been incredible advances in technology in the past 15 years. [8]

Components of IT infrastructure

Network switch Cisco Catalyst 2950 network switches in situ - IMG 1076.jpg
Network switch

The primary components of an IT Infrastructure are the physical systems such as hardware, storage, any kind of routers/switches and the building itself but also networks and software . [9] In addition to these components, there is the need for “IT Infrastructure Security”. Security keeps the network and its devices safe in order to maintain the integrity within the overall infrastructure of the organization. [10]

Specifically, the first three layers are directly involved with IT Infrastructure. The physical layer serves as the fundamental layer for hardware. The second and third layers (Data Link and Network), are essential for communication to and from hardware devices. Without this, networking is not possible. Therefore, in a sense, the internet itself would not be possible. [11] It's important to emphasize that fiber optics play a crucial role in a network infrastructure. Fiber optics [12] serve as the primary means for connecting network equipment and establishing connections between buildings.

IT Infrastructure types

Starlink Starlink Mission (47926144123).jpg
Starlink

Different types of technological tasks may require a tailored approach to the infrastructure. These can be achieved through a traditional, cloud or hyper converged IT Infrastructure. [13]


Skills

There are many functioning parts that go into the health of an IT infrastructure. In order to contribute positively to the organization, employees can acquire abilities to benefit the company. These include key technical abilities such as cloud, network, and data administration skills and soft abilities such as collaboration and communication skills. [14] [15]

Future

As data storage and management becomes more digitized, IT Infrastructure is moving towards the cloud. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provides the ability to host on a server and is a platform for cloud computing. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

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In software engineering, the terms frontend and backend refer to the separation of concerns between the presentation layer (frontend), and the data access layer (backend) of a piece of software, or the physical infrastructure or hardware. In the client–server model, the client is usually considered the frontend and the server is usually considered the backend, even when some presentation work is actually done on the server itself.

Information technology management is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities. Managing the responsibility within a company entails many of the basic management functions, like budgeting, staffing, change management, and organizing and controlling, along with other aspects that are unique to technology, like software design, network planning, tech support etc.

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Capacity management's goal is to ensure that information technology resources are sufficient to meet upcoming business requirements cost-effectively. One common interpretation of capacity management is described in the ITIL framework. ITIL version 3 views capacity management as comprising three sub-processes: business capacity management, service capacity management, and component capacity management.

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Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service model where a cloud services vendor provides computing resources such as storage, network, servers, and virtualization. This service frees users from maintaining their own data center, but they must install and maintain the operating system and application software. Iaas provides users high-level APIs to control details of underlying network infrastructure such as backup, data partitioning, scaling, security and physical computing resources. Services can be scaled on-demand by the user. According to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), such infrastructure is the most basic cloud-service model. IaaS can be hosted in a public cloud, a private cloud, or a hybrid cloud.

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Dynamic Infrastructure is an information technology concept related to the design of data centers, whereby the underlying hardware and software can respond dynamically and more efficiently to changing levels of demand. In other words, data center assets such as storage and processing power can be provisioned to meet surges in user's needs. The concept has also been referred to as Infrastructure 2.0 and Next Generation Data Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Converged infrastructure</span> Way of structuring an IT system

Converged infrastructure is a way of structuring an information technology (IT) system which groups multiple components into a single optimized computing package. Components of a converged infrastructure may include servers, data storage devices, networking equipment and software for IT infrastructure management, automation and orchestration.

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Software-defined storage (SDS) is a marketing term for computer data storage software for policy-based provisioning and management of data storage independent of the underlying hardware. Software-defined storage typically includes a form of storage virtualization to separate the storage hardware from the software that manages it. The software enabling a software-defined storage environment may also provide policy management for features such as data deduplication, replication, thin provisioning, snapshots and backup.

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References

  1. ↑ techopedia.com: IT Infrastructure Quote: "...IT infrastructure refers to the composite hardware, software, network resources and services required for the existence, operation and management of an enterprise IT environment...", backup
  2. ↑ gartner.com: IT Infrastructure Quote: "...IT infrastructure is the system of hardware, software, facilities and service components that support the delivery of business systems and IT-enabled processes...", backup
  3. ↑ "ITIL® V3 Foundation Course Glossary" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "What is IT Infrastructure?". www.ecpi.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  5. ↑ "Beginner's Guide to IT Infrastructure Management". Smartsheet. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  6. ↑ "What is infrastructure (IT infrastructure)? - Definition from WhatIs.com". SearchDataCenter. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  7. ↑ "What is ITIL 4? ITIL 4 Framework & Processes Explained". BMC Blogs. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  8. ↑ Hardware, Marco Ceppi 2018-03-29T10:30:38 87Z. "The evolution of IT infrastructure – from mainframe to server-less". ITProPortal. Retrieved 2019-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ "What is IT Infrastructure?". www.ecpi.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  10. ↑ "What is infrastructure (IT infrastructure)? - Definition from WhatIs.com". SearchDataCenter. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  11. ↑ "What is the OSI Model?".
  12. ↑ Barbut, Cornel (June 2018). "Fiber Optic Deployments in Romania between Metropolitan Fiber Optic Networks and Indoor Fiber Optic Infrastructure". 2018 10th International Conference on Electronics, Computers and Artificial Intelligence (ECAI). IEEE. pp. 1–3. doi:10.1109/ECAI.2018.8679021. ISBN   978-1-5386-4901-5.
  13. ↑ "What is IT infrastructure?". www.redhat.com. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  14. ↑ "10 IT Infrastructure Skills You Should Master". InformationWeek. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  15. ↑ "What is IT Infrastructure?". www.ecpi.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  16. ↑ "What is infrastructure (IT infrastructure)? - Definition from WhatIs.com". SearchDataCenter. Retrieved 2019-11-28.

Sources

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