IT INFRASTRUCTURE : HARDWARE & SOFTWARE

WHAT IS IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE COMPONENTS?

      Alright ! we will explain details about this topic. IT infrastructure is provides platform for supporting all information systems in the business. The components including by computer hardware, computer software, data management technology, technology service, networking and telecommunications technology.  

HOW ABOUT INPUT, OUTPUT AND STORAGE DEVICES?

Input devices prefer to gather data and convert them into electronic form. There are some of example :

Output devices also display data after they have been processed. For example :

Storage devices are the data storage devices that are used in the computer to store the data.

  WHAT IS OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE?

operating system is a set of programs that coordinates all activities among computer hardware devices and allows users to run application software. PC operating systems and graphical user interface like GUIs, Windows Server 2003, UNIX and Linux.

EXAMPLE SOFTWARE TRENDS:

1. open sources software(Linux)
2. cloud computing(Google Apps)
3. mashups(Faceforce,ZipRealty)
4. widgets(Yahoo!Weather)
5. software as a service(Salesforce.com)

DATABASE AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

DATABASE
- Collection of related files containing records on people, places, or things.
- Prior to digital databases, business used file cabinets with paper files.

ENTITY
- Generalized category representing person, place, thing on which we store and maintain information.
- e.g., SUPPLIER, PART

ATTRIBUTES
. Specific characteristics of each entity.
          -  SUPPLIER name, address
          -  PART description, unit price, supplier


A RATIONAL DATABASE TABLE

RELATIONAL DATABASE
- Organize data into two-dimensional tables (relations) with columns and rows.
- one table for each entity:
          . e.g., (CUSTOMER, SUPPLIER, PART, SALES)
- FIELDS (columns) store data representing an attribute.
- Rows store data for separate RECORDS, or tuples.
- KEY FIELD: uniquely identifies each record.
- PRIMARY KEY:
         . One field in each table
         . Cannot be duplicated
         . Provides unique identifier for all information in any row.

TELECOMMUNICATION - THE INTERNET & WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY

Computer Network

A computer network is a set of connected computers. Computers on a network are called nodes. The connection between computers can be done via cabling, most commonly the Ethernet cable, or wirelessly through radio waves. Connected computers can share resources, like access to the Internet, printers, file servers, and others. A network is a multipurpose connection, which allows a single computer to do more.

Types of Networks

There are several different types of computer networks. Computer networks can be characterized by their size as well as their purpose.

The size of a network can be expressed by the geographic area they occupy and the number of computers that are part of the network. Networks can cover anything from a handful of devices within a single room to millions of devices spread across the entire globe.

Some of the different networks based on size are:

• Personal area network, or PAN
• Local area network, or LAN
• Metropolitan area network, or MAN
• Wide area network, or WAN

In terms of purpose, many networks can be considered general purpose, which means they are used for everything from sending files to a printer to accessing the Internet. Some types of networks, however, serve a very particular purpose. Some of the different networks based on their main purpose are:

• Storage area network, or SAN
• Enterprise private network, or EPN
• Virtual private network, or VPN

LAN and WAN network

Achieve competitive advantage with MIS

This video provide us understanding about using information system as our competitive advantage. Next video provide us function of Management information system in a business.

Based on this two video, we can conclude that information system give many benefit and make a company gain competitive advantage. The business also can survive and improve their decision making by using the data from information system.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

From the previous we have talk about computer software as well but this time, we supergirls gonna talk allot more about it! Without further due..... HERE WE GO

A diagram showing how the user interacts with application software on a typical destop computer. The application software layer interfaces with the operating system, which iin turn communication with the hardware. the arrow indicates information. 

Computer software, or simply software, is that part of a computer system that consists of encoded information or computer instructions, in contrast to the physical hardware from which the system is built.

Software release life cycle

Stage of development

• Pre-alpha - phase to begin software testing 
• Beta - beta testing is reducing impacts to users, often incorporating usability testing
• Release candidate - A release candidate (RC) is a beta version with potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge 

Once released, the software is generally known as a "stable release". The formal term often depends on the method of release: physical media, on-line release or a web application. 

• End-of-life - When software is no longer sold or supported, the product is said to have reached end-of-life, to be discontinued, retired, or obsolete, but user loyalty may continue its existence for some time, even long after its platform is obsolete—e.g., the Atari ST and Sinclair ZX Spectrum. 

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MODES OF COMPUTER SYSTEM OPERATION

Operating systems enable the system they manage to operate in various modes. These include batch processing, time sharing, and real-time processing.
Batch processing Processing programs or transactions in batches, without a user's interaction.
Time Sharing Systems providing interactive processing by allocating a short time slice for the use of the server to each user in turn.
Real-time Processing Systems that respond to an event within a fixed time interval; used for example, in manufacturing plants or to collect data from several pieces of equipment in a laboratory.

With the move toward multiprocessors, in which several (or even many) processors are configured in a single computer system, multiprocessing operating systems have been designed to allocate the work to the multiple processors. These systems also support multiprogramming, which allows many programs to compete for the processors

OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE

What Does an Operating System Do?

The operating system is the software that controls all the resources of a computer system. For example it:

1. Assigns the needed hardware to programs
2. Schedules programs for execution on the processor
3. Allocates the memory required for each program
4. Assigns the necessary input and output devices
5. Manages the data and program files stored in secondary storage
6. Maintains file directories and provides access to the data in the files
7. Interacts with the users