CHAPTE IT

R 5. INFRASTRUCTUR ISOM 130

E: HARDWARE & Fall 2021
SOFTWARE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• What are the components of IT infrastructure?
• What are the major computer hardware, data
storage, input, and output technologies used
in business? What are major hardware trends?
• What are the major types of computer
software used in business? What are major
software trends?
• What are the principal issues in managing
hardware and software technology?
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
COMPONENTS
• IT infrastructure: provides platform for
supporting all information systems in the business.
 Computer hardware
 Computer software
 Data management technology
 Organizes, manages, and processes business data

concerned with inventory, customers, and vendors.

 Networking and telecommunications technology
 Technology services
 E.g., IT consulting.
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
COMPONENTS
• A firm’s IT
infrastructure is
composed of hardware,
software, data
management
technology, networking
technology, and
technology services.
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE
FIRM, IT INFRASTRUCTURE,
AND BUSINESS CAPABILITIES
COMPUTER HARDWARE:
TYPES OF COMPUTERS
• Personal computers
 Desktops, laptops
• Mobile devices
 Smartphones, tablets
• Workstations
 More powerful
mathematical and
graphics-processing
capabilities than a PC.
COMPUTER HARDWARE:
TYPES OF COMPUTERS
• Servers
 Support computer network, sharing files and
resources.
 Provide hardware platform for e-commerce.
 E.g., web server, email server, database server.
• Mainframes
 Large-capacity, high-performance computer
that can process large amounts of data very
rapidly.
 E.g., used by airlines to handle thousands of
reservations per second.
COMPUTER HARDWARE:
TYPES OF COMPUTERS
• Supercomputer
 More sophisticated
computer used for tasks
requiring extremely rapid
and complex calculations
with thousands of variables,
millions of measurements.
 Used in engineering,
scientific simulations,
military/weapons research,
weather forecasting
COMPUTER HARDWARE:
TYPES OF COMPUTERS
• Grid computing
 Power of geographically remote
computers connected into single
network to act as “virtual
supercomputer”
CLIENT/SERVER
COMPUTING
• Form of distributed computing
 Splits processing between
“clients” and “servers”
• Clients: user point of entry
• Servers: store and process
shared data and perform
network management
activities
CLIENT/SERVER
COMPUTING
• Clients are often situated on
personal computers, while
servers are located elsewhere
on the network, usually on
more powerful machines.
• Many clients can access the
server simultaneously.
CLIENT/SERVER
COMPUTING
• Most well-known Internet
applications use the client-server
architecture.
 A web browser (client) and a web
server.
 In a hospital, a client computer can be
running an application for entering
patient information while the server
computer is running another program
that manages the database in which
the information is permanently stored.
CLIENT/SERVER
COMPUTING
• Clients do not directly
communicate with each other.
 Two email clients do not directly
communicate with each other.
 The email sender (client) uses the
server to send an email.
 The email receiver (client) reads
the message from an inbox in the
server.
CLIENT/SERVER
COMPUTING
• Two-tiered client/server architecture
 Uses two types of machines
CLIENT/SERVER
COMPUTING
• Multi-tiered client/server architecture
(N-tier)
 Balances load of network over several levels of
servers
STORAGE, INPUT, AND
OUTPUT TECHNOLOGY
• In addition to hardware for processing
data, you will need technologies for:
 Data storage
 Input
 Output
SECONDARY STORAGE
TECHNOLOGIES
• Hard disks
 Magnetic disk.
 Internal or external.
SECONDARY STORAGE
TECHNOLOGIES
• Solid state drives
(SSD)
 Electronic chips made
by semiconductors.
 Faster, smaller, and
consumes less energy
than hard disks.
 But more expensive.
 Internal or external
(USB flash drives).
SECONDARY STORAGE
TECHNOLOGIES
• Optical disks • Magnetic tape
 CD, DVD, Blu-ray  Same technology used
for video tapes and
cassettes
SECONDARY STORAGE
TECHNOLOGIES
• Storage area networks
(SAN)
 Connect multiple storage devices
on a separate high-speed
network dedicated to storage.
 Consist of a server, storage
devices, and networking devices.
 The SAN stores data on many
different types of storage
devices, providing data to the
enterprise.
INPUT AND OUTPUT
• Input devices
 Gather signals from outside into the
computer and convert them into
electronic form.
 Keyboard, computer mouse, touch
screen, pen-based input, scanner,
microphone, sensors.
• Output devices
 Send information outside the computer.
 Monitor, printer, audio output.
CONTEMPORARY
HARDWARE TRENDS
• The mobile digital platform
• Consumerization of IT
• Nanotechnology
• Quantum computing
• Virtualization
• Cloud computing
• Green computing
• Multicore and power-efficient processors
CONTEMPORARY
HARDWARE TRENDS
• The mobile digital platform
 Mobile devices, smartphone
 Netbooks and tablet computers
 E-book readers
 Wearable devices (e.g., smart watches)
• Consumerization of IT
 New technology that emerges in consumer market
spreads into business organizations.
 BYOD (bring your own device): business use of
personal mobile devices.
CONTEMPORARY
HARDWARE TRENDS
• Nanotechnology
 Uses individual atoms and
molecules to create computer
chips and other devices
thousands of times smaller than
current technologies.
 Nanotubes are tiny tubes about
10,000 times thinner than a
human hair. They have potential
uses as tiny wires or in ultrasmall
electronic devices.
CONTEMPORARY
HARDWARE TRENDS
• Quantum computing
 Uses principles of quantum physics to
represent data and perform
operations on the data.
 Enables processing times that are
millions of times faster than current
high-speed processing.
CONTEMPORARY
HARDWARE TRENDS
• Virtualization
 The process of creating multiple virtual
machines (operating systems) from one
physical hardware box (computer).
 Each machine works independently from
each other and have their own operating
system.
 Enables companies to host multiple
systems on one machine.
 Virtualized computers are much more
efficient.
CLOUD COMPUTING
• A model of computing in which
firms and individuals obtain
computing resources over the
Internet.
• Shifts computing activities from
users’ computers to computers on
the Internet (servers).
• Not just storing files, but also
running software over the cloud.
 E.g., Google Docs, MS Office 365.
CLOUD COMPUTING
• Frees end-users from owning,
maintaining, and storing
software programs and data.
• Data storage security,
availability and maintenance
is in hands of cloud provider.
• Three basic components:
 Clients (end-users)
 Service providers (servers)
 The Internet
CLOUD COMPUTING
• In cloud computing,
hardware and software
capabilities are provided as
services over the Internet.
• Businesses and employees
have access to applications
and IT infrastructure
anywhere at any time using
an Internet-connected
device.
CLOUD COMPUTING
• Amazon Web
Services (AWS) is a
collection of web
services that Amazon
provides to users of its
cloud platform.
• AWS is the largest
provider of cloud-based
services in the World.
CLOUD COMPUTING
• What business benefits do
cloud computing services
provide? What problems do
they solve?
• What are the disadvantages
of cloud computing?
• What kinds of businesses are
most likely to benefit from
using cloud computing? Why?
CONTEMPORARY
HARDWARE TRENDS
• Green computing
 Practices and technologies for designing,
making, using, and disposing of computer
hardware to reduce environmental impact.
 Key priority is power reduction
 IT in U.S. provides 2% of U.S. power demand
and 2% of world’s greenhouse gases.
CONTEMPORARY
HARDWARE TRENDS
• Multicore processors
 Integrated circuit with two or more processors
 Enhanced performance and reduced power
consumption
• Power-efficient processors
 Low power consumption essential in mobile
computing.
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
COMPONENTS
THE MAJOR TYPES OF
SOFTWARE
• System software
 Consists of operating systems,
device drivers, and utility
programs.
 Enables applications to interact
with the computer hardware.
 Examples: Windows, iOS, Android.
• Application software
 End-user software.
 Examples: Most of the apps we
use.
OPERATING SYSTEM
• The software that controls all computer
activities
• Coordinate between all computer
resources such as memory, storage, input
and output devices.
• Runs the applications
• Provide graphical user interface (GUI).
OPERATING SYSTEM
OPERATING SYSTEM
The part of OS that
we see
(user interface)

The hidden
part of the
OS that
works in the
background
OPERATING SYSTEM
• PC operating systems
 Windows
 MacOS (previously Mac OS X)
 UNIX
 Linux (open source)
 Chrome OS
• Mobile operating systems
 Android, iOS
PROGRAMMING
LANGUAGES
• Languages programmers
use to develop software,
scripts, or other sets of
instructions for
computers to execute.
 C++
 Java
 Visual Basic
 Python
SOFTWARE PACKAGES AND
DESKTOP PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
• Word processing
 MS Word, Google Docs
• Spreadsheet
 MS Excel
• Data management
 MS Access
• Presentation graphics
 MS PowerPoint
• Web browsers
 MS Edge, Google Chrome, Safari
HTML AND HTML5
• Hypertext markup language
(HTML)
 Page description language for
specifying how elements are placed
on a Web page and for creating links
to other pages and objects.
• HTML5
 Next evolution of HTML.
 Enables multimedia embedding
without 3rd party plugins like Flash.
SOFTWARE TRENDS
• Mobile apps
• Open-source software
 Produced by community of programmers
 Example: Linux, Apache
• Cloud-based software and tools
 SaaS (software as a service)
 Example: Google Docs, MS Office 365
PRINCIPAL ISSUES IN MANAGING
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
TECHNOLOGY
• Capacity Planning and Scalability
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model
• Using technology service providers
 Outsourcing services
 Cloud services
• Managing software localization for global
business
CAPACITY PLANNING AND
SCALABILITY
• Capacity planning
 Process of predicting when hardware system becomes
saturated.
 Ensuring firm has enough computing power for current and
future needs.
 Factors include:
 Maximum number of users

 Impact of current, future software

 Performance measures

• Scalability
 Ability of system to expand to serve large number of users
without breaking down.
TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP
(TCO) MODEL
• This model is used to analyze direct and indirect
costs to help determine the actual cost of owning a
specific technology.
 Direct costs: hardware, software purchase costs.
 Indirect costs: ongoing administration costs, upgrades,
maintenance, technical support, training, utility, and real
estate costs.
 Hidden costs: support staff, downtime, additional network
management.
• TCO can be reduced through increased centralization,
standardization of hardware and software resources.
USING TECHNOLOGY
SERVICE PROVIDERS
• Outsourcing
 Using external provider to:

Run networks.

Host, manage websites.

Develop software (software outsourcing).

Manage IT infrastructures.
 Requires service level agreements (SLA)

Define the level of service you expect from a
vendor, laying out the metrics by which service is
measured, as well as remedies or penalties should
agreed-on service levels not be achieved.
USING TECHNOLOGY
SERVICE PROVIDERS
• Using cloud services
 Businesses “rent” infrastructure from provider to
avoid expenses of maintaining hardware and
software on their own.
 Three cloud models:

Public

Private

Hybrid
MANAGING SOFTWARE
LOCALIZATION FOR GLOBAL
BUSINESS
• Local language interfaces.
 English not typically standard at middle, lower
levels.
 Interfaces are complex: menu bars, error
messages, online forms, search results, and so on.
• Differences in local cultures.
• Differences in business processes.
• All these factors add to TCO of using
technology service providers.
SUMMARY
• IT infrastructure components
• Hardware
 Types of computers
 Client-server computing
 Storage, input, and output
 Hardware trends
• Software
 Types of software
 Software trends
• Managing software and hardware