CIS 310 Management Information Systems Infrastructure

CIS 310 Management

Information Systems


Infrastructure


Infrastructure

•
What is IT Infrastructure?

•
Value chain, support

primary and secondary activities

–
Support to run things (hardware, networks, help,
training…etc.

–
Speed

them up

–
Add quality

–
Reduce cost

–
Give insight that wasn’t possible

without connections between

functional areas

–
Needs to have flexibility to meet

changing needs of the

market & business

What happens

when you have weak
infrastructure?

•
Inefficient

•
Ineffective

•
Lost Opportunity

•
Unhappy

clients & customers
–

hard to change
the opinion once the trust is lost

•
Costs you money

MIS Infrastructure

•
Hardware

•
Network

•
Cables

•
Client/Server

•
Software

•
Cloud

Wikipedia: Information
technology infrastructure

is the
integrated framework upon
which digital networks operate.
This infrastructure
includes data
centers, computer networks,
Database Management devices
and a regulatory system
.

Sample

Network


Figure from:

http
://www.ntech.co.uk/office.htm

Network Architect /
Information
Architect

•
Network Architect

plans the entire network
infrastructure for the company.

–
Solves

problems like:

•
Throughput

•
Security

•
Information

Architect
–

database, data flows,
EWIS for the company.

–
Solves problems like:

•
How do I expand the database and not have it crash?

•
How do we

add modules to SAP?

Infrastructure Support

•
Infrastructure

Support provides for support of
the company assets if an emergency occurs.

–
Natural Disaster

–
Malicious Attack

•
Support

comes in the form of

–
Backup and recovery

–
Disaster recovery and

–
Business

continuity planning

End of Infrastructure

•
What is infrastructure?

•
Why

is infrastructure important to a business?

Networking

video

Networking

•
Network = connecting computers together so
they can communicate

–
Architecture
-

peer
-
to
-
peer, client/server

–
Topology
-

bus, star, ring, hybrid, wireless

–
Protocols
-

Ethernet, Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

–
Media
-

coaxial, twisted
-
pair, fiber
-
optic

A simple peer
-
to
-
peer

network

Client
/Server

A Server

Rack

Where are my servers?

Where are my servers?

A simple client/server network

Youtube

Staples
–

Easyhelp

http
://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=_hqfNdrw8Bc

Wireless Network

•
Bus

•
Star

•
Ring

•
Hybrid

•
Mesh

Topology

Images from
Escotal.com

Types of Networks

•
Local Area Network (LAN)

•
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

•
Wide Area Network (WAN)

Protocols

•
Ethernet

•
Transmission

Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP)

Medium

•
Coaxial

•
Twisted
-
pair

•
Fiber
-
optic

Media Type

Bandwidth

Performance: Typical
Error Rate

Twisted
-
pair for analog
voice applications

1MHz

Poor to fair (10
–
5
)

Coaxial cable

1GHz

Good (10
–
7

to 10
–
9
)

Fiber

75THz

Great (10
–
11

to 10
–
13
)

End of Networking

•
Optimizing

and Maintaining the Network
Infrastructure

•
“The Cloud”

Agile Infrastructure

Agile Infrastructure

•
Agile = flexible

•
Can my network support a 1000 times growth in
network traffic during a big event?

–
Victoria’s Secret

–
Mars Rover, Curiosity

•
Is it easy to upgrade my network with the latest
security features?

•
How reliable is the data I get from the network?

Network Agility

•
Having an agile network lets a company

–
Quickly and easily react to change

–
Provide 100% network up
-
time

–
Improve network easily as technology improves

–
Support new applications that are needed

–
Increase or decrease the network capabilities as
needed


The

Ilities

•
Characteristics of an agile MIS infrastructure

–
Accessibility

–
Availability

–
Maintainability

–
Portability

–
Reliability

–
Scalability

–
Usability

Ilities

(contd.)

•
Accessibility

–

Allowing different people,
different levels of access. (Admin
–

has
full access)

•
Availability

–

Making the network
available for a defined period of time.
100% up
-
time if it is a critical system.
(Amazon vs. Blackboard vs. FAA)

Ilities

(contd.)

•
Maintainability

–

Easy to maintain. If it is
easy to maintain, you can modify it quickly
to meet business needs.

•
Portability

–

Applications can work on
different devices. (Web pages are platform
independent.)

Ilities

(contd.)

•
Reliability

–

System is functioning
correctly and

giving accurate
information.

•
Scalability

–

System can increase

or decrease it’s capacity
depending upon need.

•
Usability

–

Ease of use of the system.
Low learning curve.

End

•
Accessibility

•
Availability

•
Maintainability

•
Portability

•
Reliability

•
Scalability

•
Usability


Backup and Recovery

Backup and Recovery

•
Backup and recovery

•
Disaster recovery and

•
Business

continuity planning

Backup and Recovery

•
Backup

–
Need a secure copy of all your transactions,
customer data, accounting, HR….etc.

–
Massive amount of data.

–
Store

the backup somewhere safe!

–
Daily, weekly, monthly backups.

•

Recovery

–
Get the system up and running after a bad event.

–
Fault tolerance, Failover, Failback

Disaster Recovery

•
Planning

is Paramount

•
Disaster recovery plan
–

detailed plan about
what to do in the event of a disaster.

•
Drill the plan. Practice so people know what
to do.

•
Know the risks and the costs

of not being able
to recover quickly.

Sample Plan

•
Disasterrecoveryplantemplate.org

•
Outline of what a typical plan might include:

–
Lists of key personnel and how to contact them.

–
Descriptions of all the major applications and
frequency of use.

–
Emergency backup procedures for each system.

–
Contact names for vendors.

–
Procedures for switching to an alternate site.


Alternate Sites for IT Operations

•
Hot site
–

Exact

replica of the companies
computer facilities. Room with

all your
hardware and software pre
-
loaded.

•
Cold site
–

Site with no equipment. A place to
set up your alternate site.

•
Warm site
–

Room with hardware but, you
have to configure it and provide the data.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

•
The plan for the

company to restore the
systems and function as an operational
business again.

–
Partial vs. complete recovery

–
Critical Systems

–
Prioritization,

triage

End