9/27/23, 10:17 AM IT infrastructure - Wikipedia

IT infrastructure
Information technology infrastructure is defined broadly as a set of
information technology (IT) components that are the foundation of an IT
service; typically physical components (computer and networking
hardware and facilities), but also various software and network
components.[1][2]

According to the ITIL Foundation Course Glossary, IT Infrastructure can

also be termed as “All of the hardware, software, networks, facilities,
etc., that are required to develop, test, deliver, monitor, control or support A server is a physical component to
IT services. The term IT infrastructure includes all of the Information IT Infrastructure.
Technology but not the associated People, Processes and
documentation.”[3]

Overview
In IT Infrastructure, the above technological components contribute to and drive business functions. Leaders
and managers within the IT field are responsible for ensuring that both the physical hardware and software
networks and resources are working optimally. IT infrastructure can be looked at as the foundation of an
organization's technology systems, thereby playing an integral part in driving its success.[4] All organizations
who rely on technology to do their business can benefit from having a robust, interconnected IT Infrastructure.
With the current speed that technology changes and the competitive nature of businesses, IT leaders have to
ensure that their IT Infrastructure is designed such that changes can be made quickly and without impacting the
business continuity.[5] While traditionally companies used to typically rely on physical data centers or
colocation facilities to support their IT Infrastructure, cloud hosting has become more popular as it is easier to
manage and scale. IT Infrastructure can be managed by the company itself or it can be outsourced to another
company that has consulting expertise to develop robust infrastructures for an organization.[6] With advances in
online outreach availability, it has become easier for end users to access technology. As a result, IT
infrastructures have become more complex and therefore, it is harder for managers to oversee the end to end
operations. In order to mitigate this issue, strong IT Infrastructures require employees with varying skill sets.
The fields of IT management and IT service management rely on IT infrastructure, and the ITIL framework was
developed as a set of best practices with regard to IT infrastructure. The ITIL framework assists companies with
the ability to be responsive to technological market demands. Technology can often be thought of as an
innovative product which can incur high production costs. However, the ITIL framework helps address these
issues and allows the company to be more cost effective which helps IT managers to keep the IT Infrastructure
functioning.[7]

Background

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Even though the IT infrastructure has been around for over 60 years, there have been incredible advances in
technology in the past 15 years.[8]

Components of IT infrastructure

The primary components of an IT Infrastructure are the physical systems

such as hardware, storage, any kind of routers/switches and the building
itself but also networks and software .[9] In addition to these components,
there is the need for “IT Infrastructure Security”. Security keeps the
network and its devices safe in order to maintain the integrity within the
overall infrastructure of the organization.[10]

Specifically, the first three layers are directly involved with IT

Infrastructure. The physical layer serves as the fundamental layer for Network switch
hardware. The second and third layers (Data Link and Network), are
essential for communication to and from hardware devices. Without this,
networking is not possible. Therefore, in a sense, the internet itself would not be possible.[11]

IT Infrastructure types

Different types of technological tasks may require a tailored approach to

the infrastructure. These can be achieved through a traditional, cloud or
hyper converged IT Infrastructure.[12]

Skills
Starlink
There are many functioning parts that go into the health of an IT
infrastructure. In order to contribute positively to the organization,
employees can acquire abilities to benefit the company. These include key technical abilities such as cloud,
network, and data administration skills and soft abilities such as collaboration and communication skills.[13][14]

Future

As data storage and management becomes more digitized, IT Infrastructure is moving towards the cloud.
Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provides the ability to host on a server and is a platform for cloud
computing.[15]

See also
Converged infrastructure
Cyber infrastructure
Dynamic infrastructure
Hyper-converged infrastructure
Information infrastructure
Infrastructure as a service
Infrastructure as code
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Software-defined infrastructure

References
1. techopedia.com: IT Infrastructure (https://www.techopedia.com/definition/29199/it-infrastructure)
Quote: "...IT infrastructure refers to the composite hardware, software, network resources and
services required for the existence, operation and management of an enterprise IT
environment...", backup (https://web.archive.org/web/20220320195449/https://www.techopedia.co
m/definition/29199/it-infrastructure)
2. gartner.com: IT Infrastructure (https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/it-infra
structure) Quote: "...IT infrastructure is the system of hardware, software, facilities and service
components that support the delivery of business systems and IT-enabled processes...", backup
(https://web.archive.org/web/20221207195956/https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technolog
y/glossary/it-infrastructure)
3. "ITIL® V3 Foundation Course Glossary" (https://itil.it.utah.edu/downloads/ITILV3_Glossary.pdf)
(PDF).
4. "What is IT Infrastructure?" (https://www.ecpi.edu/blog/what-is-it-infrastructure). www.ecpi.edu.
Retrieved 2019-11-28.
5. "Beginner's Guide to IT Infrastructure Management" (https://www.smartsheet.com/it-infrastructure-
management-services-guide). Smartsheet. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
6. "What is infrastructure (IT infrastructure)? - Definition from WhatIs.com" (https://searchdatacenter.t
echtarget.com/definition/infrastructure). SearchDataCenter. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
7. "What is ITIL 4? ITIL 4 Framework & Processes Explained" (https://www.bmc.com/blogs/itil-4/).
BMC Blogs. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
8. Hardware, Marco Ceppi 2018-03-29T10:30:38 87Z. "The evolution of IT infrastructure – from
mainframe to server-less" (https://www.itproportal.com/features/the-evolution-of-it-infrastructure-fr
om-mainframe-to-server-less/). ITProPortal. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
9. "What is IT Infrastructure?" (https://www.ecpi.edu/blog/what-is-it-infrastructure). www.ecpi.edu.
Retrieved 2019-11-28.
10. "What is infrastructure (IT infrastructure)? - Definition from WhatIs.com" (https://searchdatacenter.t
echtarget.com/definition/infrastructure). SearchDataCenter. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
11. "What is the OSI Model?" (https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/open-systems-interc
onnection-model-osi/).
12. "What is IT infrastructure?" (https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-it-infrastru
cture). www.redhat.com. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
13. "10 IT Infrastructure Skills You Should Master" (https://www.informationweek.com/cloud/10-it-infra
structure-skills-you-should-master/d/d-id/1322258). InformationWeek. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
14. "What is IT Infrastructure?" (https://www.ecpi.edu/blog/what-is-it-infrastructure). www.ecpi.edu.
Retrieved 2019-11-28.
15. "What is infrastructure (IT infrastructure)? - Definition from WhatIs.com" (https://searchdatacenter.t
echtarget.com/definition/infrastructure). SearchDataCenter. Retrieved 2019-11-28.

Sources
Simon, Errol (1996). Distributed information systems: from client/server to distributed multimedia.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780077090760.
Laan, Sjaak (2011). IT Infrastructure Architecture: Infrastructure Building Blocks and Concepts.
Lulu Press. ISBN 9781447881285.
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van der Veen, Annelies; van Bon, Jan (2007). Foundations of ITIL V3. Van Haren Publishing.
ISBN 978-90-8753-057-0.
Rouse, Margaret (2017). "A DevOps primer: Start, improve and extend your DevOps teams" (http
s://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/infrastructure), "TechTarget Search Data Center".
Retrieved 28 September 2019.

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