Introduction to IT Infrastructure
October 26 – November 1
What is an IT Infrastructure :
oAn IT infrastructure includes the hardware, software, telecommunications
equipment that, when combined, provide the underlying foundation to support
the organization’s goals (p. 316).
oAs a knowledge worker, you will be continually faced with questions regarding
how the IT infrastructure can best support your organization’s goals (p. 316).
oAs your business and the technology change, you will have the answer the
question time and time again (p. 316).
IT Infrastructure Overview :
oThe primary components of any IT infrastructure include client/server networks,
the Internet, and n-tier infrastructures (p. 317).
oClient/server networks :
A client/server network is a network in which one or more computers are
servers and provide services to the other computers, called clients (p.
317).
A basic client/server network is known as a 2-tier infrastructure since
they are only two tiers – the client and the server (p. 319).
Most software is located on the client PC (p. 319).
This leads to a situation in which workers are storing data on their
computers and not be accessible to co-workers (p. 319).
oN-tier infrastructures :
The n represents the number of tiers (p. 319).
You can address the problems of 2-tier infrastructure by moving to a 3-
tier infrastructure (p. 319).
A 3-tier infrastructure contains clients, applications servers, and data
servers (p. 319):
Application servers are used to store application software.
Data servers maintain shared information.
