The Information Technology Infrastructure

The Information Technology Infrastructure consists of all the hardware, its design, setup and integration. Whether it's a private entity for some business or a public entity, the infrastructure consists of the physical hardware which is used to interconnect all the hardware together. The hardware includes not only the computers, the servers, and the devices, but it also includes the communication medium and the construction of the physical layout of how everything comes together.

The infrastructure can also include the software which is used to send, receive, and manage the transmission signals that are being sent and received. This may consists of something like firmware or hardware level software which is needed to make the device or piece of hardware aware able to transmit and receive from the other devices.

Without the infrastructure, we wouldn't be able to build any other type of service involving the Information Technology world. It's the building blocks and basis of all the cloud which is typically offered as the "as a Service" (aaS) services, these of which includes the basis, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and many others. The three "as a Service" (aaS) services mentioned are the most popular as of today and is widely used, some of which are not made widely known and some of which are made known clearly. Infrastructure services and companies who offer them play a significant role in helping to evolve the internet, all of which includes where and how the interconnections are placed and how accessible they are and how information can and may be transmitted in what quantity and how quickly.

The Cloud or Grid as some may call it consists of an infrastructure that is scalable at will and utilized on an as needed basis. You can use as little as you need, in what time frame you may need it for, the amount of resources, power, storage and more to do what you need to do. More information on the Cloud can be seen by navigating our site.

Defining IT Infrastructure

The term IT Infrastructure is defined in ITIL v3, which is a combined set of hardware, software, networks, facilities, devices, and etc. in which includes many forms of technology use to communicate, transmit and receive information. This term IT Infrastructure is used within ITIL v3 to develop, deliver, monitor, control or support the information technology as well as its services.

ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library; it is a set of standards and good practices for IT Service Management (ITSM). The IT Service Management (ITSM) helps to put the focus and concentration of Information Technology with the needs of the business. So combining the two allows for an organization to properly align itself with the rest of the industry.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) was developed by the UK Government's Central computer and Telecommunications Agency. It recognized the need for standard practices to help ease the movement of information technology as we know it today. ITIL covers specifics practices of IT Service Management (ITSM) and was created utilizing controls and management operations.

In following the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), we'll just point out the 5 core publications which are:

1. ITIL Service Strategy
2. ITIL Service Design
3. ITIL Service Transition
4. ITIL Service Operation
5. ITIL Continual Service Improvement

Within these 5 core publications consist of 26 different processes and each of which will breakdown and explain each process of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The 5 core publications which are broken down into 26 processes are made to help us better understand information technology and to help us keep a set of standards and process.

Categorizing the Security Infrastructure

With the different types of "as a Service" (aaS) involving the information technology such as those previously mentioned. We can categorize Infrastructure into its own groups for security as well, called Domains:

• User Domain
• Remote Access Domain
• Workstation Domain
• LAN Domain
• LAN-to-WAN Domain
• WAN Domain
• Systems/Application Domain

The listed Domains are called the 7 Domains of a Typical IT Infrastructure and within each domain has its own entity. Each of these Domains is grouped in a way specifically for the structuring and implementation of Information Systems Security. The breakdown of each domain in a security standpoint consists of its risks, threats, vulnerabilities and the mitigation's for them. We'll talk more in-depth about these domains in future articles, for now all you need to know is that there are different types of infrastructure setups for different needs.

The infrastructure surrounding us is evolving and progressing. Depending on location, some are evolving and implemented more rapidly than other places.