Unit 1 - Deninition of IT Ingrastucture

Definition of IT
Infrastructure
Unit 1
IT
infrastructur Prof. Naeem Akhtar
Introduction
 During the first decades of IT development, most
infrastructures were relatively simple.
 In recent years, IT infrastructures started to become more
complicated as a result of the rapid development and
deployment of new types of applications, such as
• ecommerce
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• data warehousing
• big data
• the Internet of Things, and
• cloud computing.
 These applications required new and more sophisticated
infrastructure services, secure, highly scalable, and available
24/7.
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The definition of IT infrastructure
 Architecture is the philosophy that underlies a system and
defines the purpose, intent, and structure of the system.
 Various kinds of architecture can be defined, including
business architecture, enterprise architecture, data
architecture, application architecture, and infrastructure
architecture.
 Each of these disciplines has certain unique characteristics,
but at their most basic level, they all aim at mapping IT
solutions to business value.
 Architecture is needed to control the infrastructure when it is
designed, in use, and when it is changed.
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What is IT infrastructure?
 IT infrastructures have been around for quite a while.
 But surprisingly enough no generally accepted definition of
IT infrastructure seems to exist.
 Many people are confused by the term IT infrastructure,
and a clear definition would help them understand what IT
infrastructure is, and what it is not.
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 In literature, many definitions of IT infrastructure are
described. Some of them are:
1) IT infrastructure consists of the equipment, systems,
software, and services used in common across an
organization, regardless of mission/program/project. IT
Infrastructure also serves as the foundation upon which
mission/program/project-specific systems and capabilities
are built. (cio.gov - the website for the United States Chief
Information Officers Council).
2) All of the components (Configuration Items) that are
necessary to deliver IT Services to customers. The IT
Infrastructure consists of more than just hardware and
software. (ITILv2).
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3) 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. (ITILv3).
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4) Information technology infrastructure
underpins the distributed operational and
administrative computing environment. Hidden from
the application-based world of end users, technology
infrastructure encompasses the unseen realm of
protocols, networks, and middleware that bind the
computing enterprise together and facilitate
efficient data flows.
• Yet information technology infrastructure involves
more than just the mechanics of data systems; it also
includes people providing support and services.
(Technology Governance Board Definition of
Information Technology Infrastructure).
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5) Infrastructure is the shared and reliable services
that provide the foundation for the enterprise IT
portfolio. The implementation of an architecture includes
the processors, software, databases, electronic links,
and datacenters as well as the standards that ensure
the components work together, the skills for managing
the operation, etc. (Goethe University of Frankfurt,
www.is-frankfurt.de).
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 For most people, infrastructure is invisible and taken for
granted.
• When business processes are described by a business
analyst, the information used in the process is very
important.
• How this information is managed using IT systems is
“below the surface” for the business analyst.
• They consider IT systems to be infrastructure.
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 For users of IT systems, applications are important, as
they use them every day, but the way they are
implemented or where they are physically deployed is
invisible (below the surface) to them and hence considered
infrastructure.
 For systems managers, the building in which their
servers are hosted and the utility company that delivers the
required electricity are considered infrastructure.
So, what infrastructure comprises dependents on who you
ask, and what their point of view is.
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12
Definition of IT infrastructure
End of Lecture
Thank you for

your attention
Prof. Naeem
Akhtar

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