IT infrastructure Management

Nature and Scope of IT Infrastructure Management:-

Information technology infrastructure, or IT infrastructure, refers to the combined

components needed for the operation and management of enterprise IT services and IT
environments.

The two primary types of IT infrastructure are traditional and cloud infrastructure.

Traditional infrastructure

A traditional IT infrastructure is made up of the usual hardware and software components:

facilities, data centres, servers, networking hardware desktop computers and enterprise
application software solutions. Typically, this infrastructure setup requires more power,
physical space and money than other infrastructure types. A traditional infrastructure is
typically installed on-premises for company-only or private use.

Cloud infrastructure

A cloud computing IT infrastructure is similar to traditional infrastructure. However, end

users can access the infrastructure via the internet, with the ability to use computing
resources without installing on-premises through virtualization. Virtualization connects
physical servers maintained by a service provider at any or many geographical locations.
Then, it divides and abstracts resources, like storage, to make them accessible to users
almost anywhere an internet connection can be made. Because cloud infrastructure is
often public, it’s usually referred to as a public cloud.

Infrastructure management is a method of monitoring and maintaining critical Information

Technology (IT) infrastructure to ensure the best use of resources, protect against data
loss, and monitor key aspects of local and cloud-based service utilization. Infrastructure
management services help ensure complex IT infrastructure functions are operating
appropriately and meeting business operational needs. A modern approach to IT
infrastructure management typically covers a hybrid model that includes local and cloud-
based assets.

Infrastructure management adds structure and visibility for IT assets. Maintaining an

infrastructure that includes multiple complex systems across locales without a clear view
of all assets can result in duplication of services as well as human efforts to maintain
them. An organization’s IT infrastructure can be divided into three main groups (systems,
network, storage management) and may include the following:
Hardware – Hardware includes desktop computers, laptops, mobile devices, servers, and
mainframes

Software – Critical enterprise software such as SAS, IBM Cognos, Microsoft

Operating Systems – MacOS, Linux, Unix, Windows

Data Storage and Management – Data servers and software applications used to manage
them

Telecom and Networking – Virtual network servers, voice over IP (VOIP) servers, physical
telephony equipment, routers, and more

Internet – Website and web hosting services, equipment, as well as cloud-based

development services/tools

Consulting, & Integration – Legacy systems require integration or migration into modern
systems or applications

Hardware Components Can Include:

Desktop computers

Servers

Data centres

Hubs

Routers

Switches

Facilities

Software Components Can Include:

Content management systems (CMS)

Customer relationship management (CRM)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Operating systems

Web servers

Data Networks :-
A data network is a system that allows two or more computers to communicate with each
other. The most common type of data network is a Local Area Network (LAN). A LAN
connects computers and other devices in a small area, such as a home, office, or school.

A data network can also be a Wide Area Network (WAN). A WAN connects computers and
other devices in a large area, such as a city, country, or continent. On top of that – data
networks can be wired or wireless. Wired data networks use cables to connect devices.
Wireless data networks use radio waves to connect devices.

Types :-

There are four different types of data networks. They include:

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a data network that connects devices within the business.

A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a data network that connects devices in a large area, such
as a city, country, or continent.

A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), is a data network that is used to connect all of the
devices within a metropolitan area – such as that of a city.

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a data network that connects storage devices, such as
hard drives and tape drives.

Semantic Web:-

The Semantic Web is a vision for linking data across webpages, applications and files.
Some people consider it part of the natural evolution of the web, in which Web 1.0 was
about linked webpages, Web 2.0 was about linked apps and Web 3.0 is about linked data. It
was actually part of computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee’s original plan for the World Wide
Web but was not practical to implement at scale at the time.

The grand vision is that all data will someday be connected in a single Semantic Web. In
practice, today’s semantic webs are fractured across specialized uses, including search
engine optimization (SEO), business knowledge management and controlled data sharing.

Semantic search :-

Semantic search is a search engine technology that interprets the meaning of words and
phrases. The results of a semantic search will return content matching the meaning of a
query, as opposed to content that literally matches words in the query.

Semantic search is a set of search engine capabilities, which includes understanding

words from the searcher’s intent and their search context.
This type of search is intended to improve the quality of search results by interpreting
natural language more accurately and in context. Semantic search achieves this by
matching search intent to semantic meaning with the help of technologies such as
machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Data Life Cycle :-

1. Generation

For the data life cycle to begin, data must first be generated. Otherwise, the following steps
can’t be initiated.

Data generation occurs regardless of whether you’re aware of it, especially in our
increasingly online world. Some of this data is generated by your organization, some by
your customers, and some by third parties you may or may not be aware of. Every sale,
purchase, hire, communication, interaction—everything generates data. Given the proper
attention, this data can often lead to powerful insights that allow you to better serve your
customers and become more effective in your role.
 2. Collection

Not all of the data that’s generated every day is collected or used. It’s up to your data team
to identify what information should be captured and the best means for doing so, and what
data is unnecessary or irrelevant to the project at hand.

You can collect data in a variety of ways, including:

Forms: Web forms, client or customer intake forms, vendor forms, and human resources
applications are some of the most common ways businesses generate data.

Surveys: Surveys can be an effective way to gather vast amounts of information from a
large number of respondents.

Interviews: Interviews and focus groups conducted with customers, users, or job
applicants offer opportunities to gather qualitative and subjective data that may be difficult
to capture through other means.

Direct Observation: Observing how a customer interacts with your website, application, or
product can be an effective way to gather data that may not be offered through the
methods above.

It’s important to note that many organizations take a broad approach to data collection,
capturing as much data as possible from each interaction and storing it for potential use.
While drawing from this supply is certainly an option, it’s always important to start by
creating a plan to capture the data you know is critical to your project.

3. Processing

Once data has been collected, it must be processed. Data processing can refer to various
activities, including:

Data wrangling, in which a data set is cleaned and transformed from its raw form into
something more accessible and usable. This is also known as data cleaning, data munging,
or data remediation.

Data compression, in which data is transformed into a format that can be more efficiently
stored.

Data encryption, in which data is translated into another form of code to protect it from
privacy concerns.

Even the simple act of taking a printed form and digitizing it can be considered a form of
data processing.
 4. Storage

After data has been collected and processed, it must be stored for future use. This is most
commonly achieved through the creation of databases or datasets. These datasets may
then be stored in the cloud, on servers, or using another form of physical storage like a hard
drive, CD, cassette, or floppy disk.

When determining how to best store data for your organization, it’s important to build in a
certain level of redundancy to ensure that a copy of your data will be protected and
accessible, even if the original source becomes corrupted or compromised.

5. Management

Data management, also called database management, involves organizing, storing, and
retrieving data as necessary over the life of a data project. While referred to here as a
“step,” it’s an ongoing process that takes place from the beginning through the end of a
project. Data management includes everything from storage and encryption to
implementing access logs and changelogs that track who has accessed data and what
changes they may have made.

6. Analysis

Data analysis refers to processes that attempt to glean meaningful insights from raw data.
Analysts and data scientists use different tools and strategies to conduct these analyses.
Some of the more commonly used methods include statistical modeling, algorithms,
artificial intelligence, data mining, and machine learning.

Exactly who performs an analysis depends on the specific challenge being addressed, as
well as the size of your organization’s data team. Business analysts, data analysts, and
data scientists can all play a role.

7. Visualization

Data visualization refers to the process of creating graphical representations of your

information, typically through the use of one or more visualization tools. Visualizing data
makes it easier to quickly communicate your analysis to a wider audience both inside and
outside your organization. The form your visualization takes depends on the data you’re
working with, as well as the story you want to communicate.

While technically not a required step for all data projects, data visualization has become an
increasingly important part of the data life cycle.

8. Interpretation
Finally, the interpretation phase of the data life cycle provides the opportunity to make
sense of your analysis and visualization. Beyond simply presenting the data, this is when
you investigate it through the lens of your expertise and understanding. Your interpretation
may not only include a description or explanation of what the data shows but, more
importantly, what the implications may be.

HTML :-

To understand “HTML” from front to back, let’s look at each word that makes up the
abbreviation:

Hypertext: text (often with embeds such as images, too) that is organized in order to
connect related items

Markup: a style guide for typesetting anything to be printed in hardcopy or soft copy format

Language: a language that a computer system understands and uses to interpret

commands.

HTML determines the structure of web pages. This structure alone is not enough to make a
web page look good and interactive. So you’ll use assisted technologies such as CSS and
JavaScript to make your HTML beautiful and add interactivity, respectively.

In this case, I like to break down the three technologies – HTML, CSS, and JavaScript – this
way: they are like a human body.

HTML is the skeleton,

CSS is the skin,

And JavaScript is the circulatory, digestive, and respiratory systems that brings the
structure and the skin to life.

You can also look at HTML, CSS, and JavaScript this way: HTML is the structure of a house,
CSS is the interior and exterior décor, and JavaScript is the electricity, water system, and
many other functional features that make the house livable.

HTML Tags

Since HTML defines the markup for a particular web page, you’ll want the text, images, or
other embeds to appear in certain ways.

For example, you might want some text to be big, other text to be small, and some to be
bold, italic, or in bullet point form.
HTML has “tags” that let you get this done. So, there are tags to create headings,
paragraphs, bolded words, italicized words, and more.

The image below describes the anatomy of an HTML tag:

Anatomy-of-an-html-tag

HTML Elements

An element consists of the opening tag, a character, the content, and a closing tag. Some
elements are empty – that is, they don’t have a closing tag but instead have a source or link
to content that you want to embed on the web page.

An example of an empty element is <img>, which you use to embed images on a web page.

HTML elements are often used interchangeably with tags, but there’s a small difference
between the two. An element is a combination of the opening and closing tag, and then the
content between them.

I made another image to help you visualize the anatomy of an HTML element: