CHAPTER THREE

Information Technology
Infrastructure

1
 Outline
 IT Infrastructure Components
 Hardware

 Software

 Telecommunication and networking

 Emerging Technology
 Mobile computing

 Pervasive computing

 Cloud computing

 Management Issues of IT Infrastructure

 Database Management system
 Basic concepts

 Why DBMS
2
 Definition of IT Infrastructure
 IT infrastructure:
 Set of physical devices and software required to support all

information system in business and society

 runs the applications (e.g., payroll, inventory, procurement,
etc.)
 Processing data

 storage

 networking

3
 IT Infrastructure Components
1. Computer hardware

2. Computer Software
 Operating system platforms

 Enterprise applications

3. Data Storage and Management

4. Network & Telecommunications

5. Internet Platforms

6. Technology Services
 MeatWare: IT consultants ,designers, developers, network

admins, end users

4
3.2.1. Computer Hardware

 Personal computers (PC)

 designed for one person – size, capability,

price
 Handheld/Mobile computers
 Tablet (e.g. Apple iPad), Laptop, PDAs,

wearable computers (e.g. iwatch, Google

glass), etc.
 Workstation
 More powerful mathematical and graphics-

processing capabilities than a PC

 technical or scientific applications
5
Cont.
 Server
 a computer which manages access to a

centralized resource or service in a

network.
 Receive and process requests from client

and
 deliver data to client computers over a

network,
 perform network management activities

 E.g. Web, Application, FTP Servers

6
 Cont.
 Mainframe
 large, high-speed expensive, powerful

computer
 bulk data processing (census, consumer

statistics, ERP, TPS, airlines for thousands of

reservations per second)
 supporting numerous workstations

 thousands of concurrent users (simultaneously)

An IBM System z9
mainframe

7
Cont.
 Supercomputer
 fastest, most powerful computer

 extremely rapid and complex calculations with

thousands of variables, millions of measurements

 capable of processing more than one quadrillion

instructions in a single second

 in medicine, aerospace, weather forecasting,

nuclear energy research, and petroleum

exploration.

8
 Cont.
 Input Devices: Gather data and convert them
into electronic form.
 Keyboard

 Computer Mouse

 Digital Scanner

 Touch Screen

 Optical Character Recognition

 Barcode reader

 Magnetic Ink Character Recognition

 Audio Input and Sensors.

9
 Chapter III
Comp. HW
 Output Devices: Display the processed
data.
 Monitor
 Printer
 Audio Output/speaker

 Processing Components
 Central Processing Unit (CPU) – “brain”
 Random Access Memory (RAM) – temporarily
store data while it is being processed

10
 Computer Software
 Software:
 Programs /sequence of instructions/ used to operate computers

and related devices what to do

 Two types of Software

 System SW: Interact with HW & Mediates between Application SW

& HW
 Application SW: Interact with user

11
Cont.

1) System SW:
a) Operating System (OS) -
(Windows, Linux, Unix, Macintosh, iOS, Android)

 Interface for humans to interact with HW –

access & command the computer - GUI

 Manage - Memory & I/O devices,

process/task, disk
 Input, retrieve, store, display

 Platform – Application SW can run

(intermediary)

12
Cont.
b) Language Translator
 convert high level programming
language into machine language
(bits/object code – 0’s & 1’s)
 Compiler, assembler, translator

c) Utility programs
 support routine and repetitive tasks
(copying, moving or renaming a file,,
etc)
 keep the computer in good running
condition - Security and anti-virus
programs

13
 Cont.

2) Application SW
 Specific needs/functions/ real-
world problems  End users
 finance, payroll, procurement,
ERP, CRM,
 word processing,
spreadsheets, databases,
graphics, games
 Web-browsers
 E-mail
 Presentation SWs, etc.
14
 Cont.
 Compatibility
computer’s hardware, operating system, and
application programs work together properly 
Compatible

15
 Data Storage & Management

Data Storage – a place where data is placed

 Primary Storage:
 RAM, Cache Memory
(motherboard)

 Fast access – proximity to

possessor

 Volatile – loose data when

the computer is off

16
Cont.
 Secondary Storage: (external –
not on motherboard – inside or
outside the computer)
 Hard disk,
 magnetic tapes,
 magnetic disks;
 optical discs (CDs,
DVDs) ,
 flash memory
 more data than primary
storage
 Slower, but cheaper

17
 Cont.
 Telecommunications provide platforms for
•Transmission of data: voice, video, text, image
 A sender transmits a message
 To a receiver
 Over a channel  consisting medium
 Noise: interference

22
 Cont.
 A data communication system has 5 components
Message: the information to be communicated (text, numbers,
pictures, sound, video - or combinations)

Sender: the device - computer, video camera, etc.

Receiver: still the device
Medium: the physical path by which a message travels from
sender to receiver

Protocol: the set of rules that govern data communications; an

agreement between the communicating devices

23
Cont.
Wired Telecommunication Media
twisted pair Coaxial
 inner conductor wire
 Insulated pairs of
surrounded by insulation
Copper wires
 Cable TV + Computer
 Telephone Network
networks  better data transmission
 Least expensive rate & more expensive
than twisted pair
 Less susceptible for
interference
Fiber Optic
 extremely thin glass
or plastic
 transmits signals with
light beams/ waves 
digitally
 voice, data, and video
 High bandwidth 
carry large data
 Less susceptible for
interference
 Expensive 24
Cont.
Wireless Telecommunication Media

Microwave Satellite
 receive signals from one
 Information is earth station and
converted to a rebroadcast them to another
microwave signal,
signal
sent through the air  They use microwave signals
to a receiver, and
recovered

25
Cont.

Wireless Telecommunication Media (Cont’d)

Cellular
 short-range wireless signals -
 Geographic regions are divided
into sections, called cells.
dedicated frequency for
conversation
 Signals from cells transmitted
to a receiver
Infrared
light waves infrared radiation
(via air)
 different devices communicate
 via short distances (a few
hundred yards, Personal Area
Network)
26
 Computer Networks
 Connect two or more computers (millions – Internet)
 To share information, messages, and software

 Categories of Network
 Local Area networks (LAN)

 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

 Wide area network (WAN)

27
Cont.
Type of Networks

LAN MAN WAN

 large geographic area

 limited physical area  large cities  cities, regions, countries
 office, classroom,
or the world
or building

28
 Cont.

 Network Devices
 Router – connects two or more networks and serves

as a gateway (Organization's network to external

network- internet)
 Switch – connect various network segments; connect

multiple computers together within one local area

network (LAN)
 Hub – connecting multiple devices together and

making them act as a single network segment.

29
Cont.
 Network Interface Card (NIC) –connecting

the computer to the network using a

special cable
 Modem: The place where the computer is

connected to the phone line.

30
31
 Network Topologies

Network Topologies
Topology is the physical arrangement of interconnected computers in the
network.
Categories of Topologies
1. Linear bus network

2. A ring network

3. Star Network

4. Mesh Topology

5. Tree Topology

32
Cont.
Linear/Bus
• backbone all of the computers
connect to
• Cheap and easy;
• Message delay as the # of stations
increase
• Network disruption when
computers are added or removed
• Whole network fails  break on
the main wire
• Difficult to troubleshoot
Ring
• Data travels in circular fashion
• Cheap and easy to implement
• Can span longer distance
• Cable faults are easily located –
easy troubleshooting
• Expansion can cause
 network disruption
 Message delay 33

Star
• All computers connected to a central
device called hub or switch.
• Easily expanded without disruption
• Cable failure affects only a single User
• Easy troubleshooting
• More cable
• failure in central device failure in
entire network fails
• More difficult to implement
Mesh
• Each computer connects to every
other.
• Provides redundant paths between
devices – limited vulnerability to link
or node failure
• Can be expanded without disruption
• Requires more cable than other
topologies
• High message delay b/c of long
distance transmission
• Complicated implementation
34
 Tree

• Combination of bus and star topology (Hub connected to

main bus)
• covers greater distance
• ease of expansion – large # of nodes can be added & ease of
removing the nodes
• Low message delay
• Hub failure  removes all stations in the branch
• failure in the central hub causes the whole network to fail

35
 Internet Platform
 Internet  global network of networks used for sharing external and internal
information.
 Internet Service Provider (ISP): a company
• providing Internet services around a specific area.
• E.g. Ethio Telecom
 Major Services From The Internet : Communication, Collaboration, Information
retrieval, Business Operation

a) Communication
• individuals, groups, companies and computers  share ideas,
information, knowledge, documents globally;

• text, video, voice, graphics, pictures, and animation

• e.g. e-mail, chat rooms, Usenet newsgroups, VoIP/ Internet telephony,
video conferencing
36
 Cont.
b) Collaboration
 Supporting mutual efforts of teams:
– E.g. designing products in collaboration with customers, suppliers, etc.

 Virtual collaboration Tools:

 Workflow systems:
 Automation of workflows and movement of information from start to
finish

37
 Cont.

 Groupware (Connect group of people who share common task) - Real-

time collaboration (RTC) tools

Videoconferencing – Interactive Whiteboard Screen Sharing Software

voice, video, data

 Other tools
 Social Networking Tools (FB, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.)
 Wikis (add/edit content by any user)

38
 cont.
 Internet based collaboration environment:
 Google Apps/Google sites (Google calendar, Google hangout, Gmail,
etc.) - Online collaboration
 Microsoft SharePoint: centralize access to enterprise information and
applications; team communication and collaboration
 Lotus Notes: email, calendars, blogs, forums, personal information
managers (PIM) and the Web.

C) Information Retrieval
 information from any part of the world

 Search the databases of university libraries, Gov’t offices,

NGOs, etc.
 research papers, articles, journals, books, open source SW

39
Cont.
d) Facilitating Business Operations
 E-business, E-commerce

 E-commerce  use of IT by organizations to interact with market

places (B2C, B2B, C2C, B2G)
– Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce involves retailing
products and services to individual shoppers. E.g. Amazon
– Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce involves sales of goods
and services among businesses.
– Government-to-citizens (G2C). In this case, a government agency
provides services to its citizens via e-commerce technologies
 Features:
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): information on business transaction
(purchase order, invoices, etc.)
 Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT): Bus. Org., banks, customers

 Electronic Clearinghouse (ACH): money movement

 Electronic Advertising: Website 40

Cont.

 Intranet Vs. Extranet

 Intranet
 internal network  employees share internal information

 protected from outside access by special security software called “a fire

wall”
 Use Internet concepts & tools:

 browsing & searching;

 communication & collaboration

 Extranet
 allow outside users to access the database of the organization

 Connect the intranets of different organizations/ business

partners (B2B, interfacing & exchanging data, forms)
41
The Business Value of Telecommunications
Networks

42
 Emerging Technologies

What are the new trends in HW & SW?

43
 Mobile Computing

 Mobile Computing is using a computer (of one kind or another) while on

the move.
 e.g. smartphones, tablets, notebooks, e-book readers

 wireless communication & web-access capabilities

 “do anything anywhere” computing environment

 Mobile Phones
 Laptops
 PDA’s
 Notebook PC
 Etc.  Easy to carry
 Easy to operate
 Touch screen
 Wireless
 Any where access facility
 Etc.
44
Mobile computing - Organizational Impact

45
 Pervasive Computing

 Embedding computational capability (microprocessor/ chips) into

everyday objects (clothing, cars, home, appliances, lighting systems,
tools, etc.),

 Connecting them to an infinite network of other devices, and

 Making them effectively communicate and perform useful tasks
 Pervasive/ Ubiquitous – “existing everywhere” occur with:
any device, any time, at any place, in any data format
 capable of collecting, processing, and sending data

46
Pervasive computing: Any Device, Any
Network, Any Data

Pervasive computing: monitoring of Pets and houseplants, operation of

appliances, keeping track of books, bicycles, etc. 47
 Cont.
 Internet of things (IoT)
 Evolved out of pervasive computing

 Common objects turned into connected devices  communicate

each other and provide notification ==>the phenomenon of “Internet
of things”

48
 Cont.
 Cloud Computing
 Network of remote servers hosted on the Internet providing:
 on-demand access to shared pool of virtualized computing resources: servers, storage,

processing, memory, network bandwidth, applications and other services.

 Types of services:

 Software as a service (SaaS) is a widely used model in which software is available to users
from a service provider as needed. E.g. Google Docs(instead of installing MS Word)
 Platform as a service (PaaS) is a computing platform that enables the quick and easy
creation, testing, and deployment of web applications without the necessity of buying and
maintaining the software and infrastructure underneath it.
 Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a way of delivering servers, storage, networks, workload
balancers, and OSs as an on-demand service.
 Data as a service (DaaS) data files (including text, images, sounds, and videos) are made
available to customers over a network by a service provider.
 Pay per use model.
49
Challenges of managing IT infrastructure and management solutions

 Dealing with platform and infrastructure change

 How well does the infrastructure scale?
 Firms require new policies and procedures for managing new platforms
 Management and governance
 Each organization will need to arrive at answers based on its own needs
for the following questions:
 Who will control and manage the firm’s IT infrastructure?
 Should IT infrastructure be centrally controlled and managed? or
should it be by departments and divisions?
 What is the relationship between central information systems
management and business unit information systems management?
 How will infrastructure costs be allocated among business units?
50
Cont.

 Making wise infrastructure investments

 How much should the firm spend on infrastructure?
 Too much – financial?
 Too little - business services cannot be delivered -> competitive?

 Rent versus- buy decision

 Determining the Total Cost of Ownership of Technology Asset
 The actual cost of owning technology resources includes
 Direct Costs: the original cost of acquiring and installing hardware

and software
 Administration costs: hardware and software upgrades,
maintenance, training, technical support, space and energy,
downtime

 Hardware and software acquisition costs only about 20 percent of

TCO, so managers must pay close attention to administration costs 51
Cont.
 Identifying technology trends impacting the organization’s
IT infrastructure
 managers need to:
 constantly monitor technology trends and

 make decisions about upgrading the firm’s IT infrastructure

 formulate new policies and procedures – mobile & cloud

computing platforms

 tracking, updating, and securing data and applications

52
 Chapter IV

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

(DBMS)

53
 Chapter IV
Data Resource Management
 The data resource consists of the facts and information an
organization gathers while conducting business and in order to
conduct business at all levels of the organization.
 Difficulties with managing data
 Amount of data is increasing- every 18 months data of an organization
becomes double.

 Data is scattered throughout the organization

 Data quality and security
 Data management helps companies improve productivity by
ensuring that people can find what they need without having to
conduct a long and difficult search.

54
 Chapter IV
Cont.
 Goal:
 to transform raw data into usable corporate information of the
highest quality.
 Managers make decisions and service customers based on the data
available to them.
 Managers need rapid access to correct, comprehensive, and consistent
data
 Solutions to manage data:
 Manual Approach: Typing the data on paper and put in a file cabinet
 File Management
 A collection of application programs that perform services for the
end-users. Each program defines and manages its own data.
 Database Management Systems (DBMS)

55
 Chapter IV
DBMS: Basic Definition
 Database
 A collection of related data

 one or more related tables (files) used to organize data

 Entity
 thing about which data are to be collected and stored (e.g. student, customer,
product, etc.)

 Attribute = column of the table

 a characteristic of an entity (ID, name, department, year)

 Record = Row of the table

 set of values for each attribute for one entity (e.g. student)

56
Cont.

 Relationship
 describes an association among entities

 Supply associates SUPPLIER with PROJECT

 Constraint
 restrictions placed on the data

57
 Cont.

 Database Schema: descriptions of

the database structure (data types,
relationships) and the constraints
that should hold on the database.
 Change infrequently

 Database Instance: The actual data stored

in a database at a particular moment in
time
 Change every time the database
is updated

58
 Cont.

 Database Management System (DBMS): software package/ system

to facilitate the creation and maintenance of a computerized
database. It:
 defines structures (data types, relationships, etc.),
 store data on some storage medium
 manipulate (querying, update, report generation)

 E.g. Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2, etc.

59
Cont. Chapter IV

DBMS – manages interaction between end users and database

60
 Why Database Management System?
 It is due to the weakness of the file system (Customer File, Sales
File, Personnel File, etc.)
 Problems
 Duplication

 same data may be stored in multiple files

 Inconsistency

 same data may be stored by different names in different format

 Implications
 Waste of space

 Data inaccuracies

 High overhead of data manipulation and maintenance

61
 Benefits of Database Technology
 Data can be shared
 two or more users can access and use same data instead of storing
data in redundant manner for each user.

 Quality data can be maintained

 the different integrity constraints in the database approach will
maintain the quality leading to better decision making

 Enforce standards
 Redundancy can be reduced

 isolated data is integrated in database to decrease the redundant

data stored at different applications.

 Improved accessibility of data

 by using structured query languages, the users can easily access

62
data without programming experience.
Cont.

 Multiuser Transaction Processing

 allow multiple users to access the database at the same time
 Improved decision support
 the database will provide information useful for decision making.
 Restricting unauthorized access to data.
 Since relevant data in the organization will be stored at one
repository, it can be controlled and managed at the central level.
 Support of Multiple Views of the Data
 Providing backup and recovery services

63
Thank you !!!!

64