Ch5 Questions and Answers
1. What is IT infrastructure and what are its components?
IT infrastructure is the shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firm’s specific information system specifications. IT infrastructure includes hardware, software, and services that are shared across the entire firm. Major IT infrastructure components include computer hardware platforms, operating system platforms, enterprise software platforms, networking and telecommunications platforms, database management software, Internet platforms, and consulting services and systems integrators. 2. What are the stages and technology drivers of IT infrastructure evolution?
The five stages of IT infrastructure evolution are: (1) the mainframe era, (2) the personal computer era, (3) the client/server era, (4) the enterprise computing era, and (5) the cloud and mobile computing era. Moore’s Law deals with the exponential increase in processing power and decline in the cost of computer technology, stating that every 18 months the power of microprocessors doubles and the price of computing falls in half. The Law of Mass Digital Storage deals with the exponential decrease in the cost of storing data, stating that the number of kilobytes of data that can be stored on magnetic media for $1 roughly doubles every 15 months. Metcalfe’s Law helps show that a network’s value to participants grows exponentially as the network takes on more members. Also driving exploding computer use is the rapid decline in costs of communication and growing agreement in the technology industry to use computing and communications standards. 3. What are the current trends in computer hardware platforms?
Increasingly, computing is taking place on a mobile digital platform. Grid computing involves connecting geographically remote computers into a single network to create a computational grid that combines the computing power of all the computers in the network. Virtualization organizes computing resources so that their
IT infrastructure is the shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firm’s specific information system specifications. IT infrastructure includes hardware, software, and services that are shared across the entire firm. Major IT infrastructure components include computer hardware platforms, operating system platforms, enterprise software platforms, networking and telecommunications platforms, database management software, Internet platforms, and consulting services and systems integrators. 2. What are the stages and technology drivers of IT infrastructure evolution?
The five stages of IT infrastructure evolution are: (1) the mainframe era, (2) the personal computer era, (3) the client/server era, (4) the enterprise computing era, and (5) the cloud and mobile computing era. Moore’s Law deals with the exponential increase in processing power and decline in the cost of computer technology, stating that every 18 months the power of microprocessors doubles and the price of computing falls in half. The Law of Mass Digital Storage deals with the exponential decrease in the cost of storing data, stating that the number of kilobytes of data that can be stored on magnetic media for $1 roughly doubles every 15 months. Metcalfe’s Law helps show that a network’s value to participants grows exponentially as the network takes on more members. Also driving exploding computer use is the rapid decline in costs of communication and growing agreement in the technology industry to use computing and communications standards. 3. What are the current trends in computer hardware platforms?
Increasingly, computing is taking place on a mobile digital platform. Grid computing involves connecting geographically remote computers into a single network to create a computational grid that combines the computing power of all the computers in the network. Virtualization organizes computing resources so that their