Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Chapter 4: Information Technology Infrastructure; IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technology

Terms in this set (62)

Information technology infrastructure
Shared technology resources that provide platform for the firm's specific information systems application; Includes investment in hardware, software, and services like consulting, and training; Provides the foundation for serving customers, working with vendors, and managing internal firm business proccesses
Mainframe
Represents the first era of IT infrastructure; Came onto its own thanks to the introduction of the IBM 360 series; The IBM 360 was the first commercial computer with a powerful operating system that could provide time sharing, multitasking, and virtual memory in a more advanced model; Powerful enough to support thousands of online remote terminals connected to the centralized mainframe using proprietary protocols and proprietary data lines; This era was a period of highly centralized computing under the control of professional programmers and systems operators (usually in a corporate data centers), with most elements of infrastructure provided by a single vendors, the manufacturer of hardware and software
Minicomputers
Produced by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1965; Cheaper than the IBM mainframe and make decentralized computing possible which customized to the specific needs of individual departments or business units rather than time sharing on a single huge mainframe; In recent years, it has evolved into a midrange computer or midrange server and is part of a network.
Wintel Pc
Windows operating system software on a computer with an Intel microprocessor and it has become the standard desktop computer when it was introduced in 1981; At first, it uses the DOS operating system, a text-based command language, and later the Microsoft Windows operating system; Its dominance as a computing platform is receding as Iphone and Android devices sales increase; Came to be in the Personal computer era which started in 1981
Client server computing
Desktops are laptops computers (clients) are networked to powerful server computers that provide the client computers with a variety of services and capabilities; the 3rd era of IT infrastructure that started in 1983; Its simplest form consists of a client computer networked to a server computer, with a processing split between the two types of machines (two-tiered client/server architecture); Enables businesses to distribute computing work across a series of smaller, inexpensive machines that cost much less than centralized mainframe systems. The result is an explosion in computer power and applications throughout the firm
Client
Desktops or laptops computers that are networks to a powerful server computers; User point of entry
Server
Where clients computers are networked to; Typically processes and stores shared datas, serves up Webpage, or manages network activities; Refers to both the software application and the physical computer on which the network software runs; Could be a mainframe but are more likely to be a more powerful version of personal computer, based on the inexpensive chips and often using multiple processors in a single computer box
Multitiered client/server architecture
Used by most businesses; Complex and also known as N-tier client/server architecture; The work of the entire network is balanced over several different levels of servers, depending on the kind of service being requested
Web Server
Will serve a web page to a client in response to a request for service; A server whose software is responsible for locating and managing stored Web pages
Application server
If the client request access to a corporate system, the request is passed through here; A serve whose software handles all application operations between a user and an organization's back-end business systems; May reside on the same computer as the Web server or on its own dedicated computer.
Enterprise Computing era
4th era of IT Infrastructure; Started from 1992; Links different pieces of computer software hardware and smaller networks into an enterprise-wide network so that information can flow freely across the organization and between the firm and other organizations; Can link different types of computer hardware, including mainframes, servers, PCs, and mobile devices, and it includes public infrastructures such as the telephone systems, the Internet, and public network services; Requires software to link disparate applications and enable data to flow freely among different parts of the business.
Cloud and Mobile Computing
5th era of IT infrastructure that started in 2000; Came to be the growing bandwidth power of the Internet has pushed the client/server model on step further.
Cloud computing
Refers to a model of computing that provides access to a shared pool of computing resources (computers, storage, applications,and services) over a network, often the Internet; These resources can access on an as-needed basis from any connected device or location; A model of computing in which computer processing, storage, software, and other services are provided as a pool of virtualized resources over a network, primarily the internet
Moore's Law
Named after Gordon Moore; 3 variations:
1) The power of microprocessors doubles every 18 months.
2) Computing power doubles every 18 months.
3) The price of computing falls by half every 18 months
Nanotechnology
Uses individual atoms and molecules to create computer chips and other devices that are thousands of times smaller than current technologies permit
Recommended textbook explanations

Introduction to Algorithms

3rd EditionCharles E. Leiserson, Clifford Stein, Ronald L. Rivest, Thomas H. Cormen
709 explanations

Introduction to the Theory of Computation

3rd EditionMichael Sipser
389 explanations

Problem Solving with C++

9th EditionWalter Savitch
283 explanations

Starting Out with Python

2nd EditionTony Gaddis
601 explanations