C5- IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

Let us buy some Blade Servers!

Invest on hardware and software technologies that are cost-effective, efficient, and energy-saving.

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Computers

Input – Process - Output

Evolution of IT Infrastructure

• General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer era (1959 – present)

• Personal computer era (1981 to present)• Client/server era (1983 to present)• Enterprise computing era (1992 to present)• Cloud and mobile computing era (2000 to

Present)

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IT Infrastructure Fit

• 1. Technological– hardware/software

needed to operate• Capacity, speed

• 2. Service – Services provided

by the IT infrastructure

• Computing platforms, telecommunications, data management, etc.

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A client/server network

Web ServerApplication Server

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The future! Technology Drivers

Moore’s Law

The power of microprocessors doubles every 18 monthsComputing power doubles every 18 months

The price of computing falls by half every 18 months

Law of Mass Digital Storage

The amount of digital information is roughly doubling every year

The cost of storage is falling at an exponential rate of 100 percent per year

Metcalf’s Law

The value of a network grows exponentially as a function of the number of network members

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Technology Drivers …

• Declining Communications Costs and the Internet– Rapid decline in costs of communication and the

exponential growth in the size of the Internet

• Standards and network effects– ASCII (1958)– COBOL (1959)– Unix (1969–1975)– TCP/IP (1974)– Ethernet (1973)– IBM/Microsoft/Intel Personal Computer (1981)– World Wide Web (1989–1993)

Network Effects

7 Components of an IT infrastructure

IT infrastructure Components …

• Computer Hardware Platforms – Blade servers

• Operating System Platforms – Unix and Linux

• Enterprise Software Applications – SAP, Oracle

• Data Management and Storage – Storage Area Networks (SANs)

IT infrastructure Components …

• Networking/Telecommunications Platforms – Combination of telephone services, cell phone

connectivity, computers and peripheral devices, handheld PDAs, and wireless services

• Internet Platforms– Intranets/extranets using internet platform

• Consulting and System Integration Services – Legacy Systems

Hardware Platform Trends

• Integration of Computing & Telecommunications– Increasingly, computing takes place over the network– Client level: The integration of cell phones and PDAs– Server level: The integration of voice telephone and

the Internet bring together two historically separate and distinct global networks

– The network in many respects is the source of computing power

and Emerging Technologies

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Hardware Platform

• The Emerging Mobile Digital Platform – Netbooks, Smart Phones

• Grid Computing– connecting geographically remote computers – short-term access to large computational capacity– compare with mainframes/super computers

• Virtualization– multiple operating systems and application programs

on one server– overall utilization rates, maintenance, upgrades …

TCO

Hardware Platform …

• Cloud computing– On-Demand computing (Utility Computing)– off-load to a remote and large-scale data processing

center.

• Cloud services– Cloud infrastructure as a service– Cloud platform as a service– Cloud software as a service

• Green Computing

CIBC out sources to HP 28,000 e-mail; 41,000 desktops PCs, 4,500 ATMs, and 10,000 POS terminals.

Hardware Platform …

• Autonomic Computing– Cost of managing them has risen 30%-50% to

prevent crashing!– Features:

• Configure themselves • Optimize and tune themselves • Heal themselves when broken • Protect themselves from intruders and self-destruction • Autonomic computing is an industry-wide effort

• High-Performance and Power-Saving Processors

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Hardware Platform …

• Edge Computing– A multi-tier, load-balancing scheme for Web-based

applications– Processing load is distributed closer to the user and

handled by smaller, lower-cost servers

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Software Platform Evolution

• Linux and open-source software– OpenOffice

• Software for the Web: Java and Ajax • Web Services and Service-Oriented Architecture

– XML/SOAP for data transfer

• Software Outsourcing and Cloud Services• Software Packages and Enterprise Software• Software as a service (SaaS)

Five themes

Software Platform Evolution …

• Linux and Open Source– free and can be modified by users– Developed and maintained by a worldwide network of

programmers and designers under the management of user communities

Software Platform Evolution

Software Platform Evolution …

• Java is an operating system-independent, processor-independent, object-oriented programming language– The leading interactive programming environment for

the Web

• Enterprise Integration– Priority of integrating legacy systems with newer

Web-based applications– Growth of enterprise-wide applications– Use of middleware to create an interface or bridge – Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) software

packages connect disparate applications

Software Platform Evolution

Management Issues

• Dealing with Platform and Infrastructure Change • Management and Governance • Making Wise Infrastructure Investments

– Consider TCO

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Software Platform Trends and Emerging Technologies

Software Platform Evolution

• Web Services– a set of loosely coupled software components that

exchange information with each other using Web communication standards and languages

• Foundation technology is XML• Service-oriented architecture• Major vendors provide tools for building software

using Web services

Software Outsourcing28

Today large and small firms purchase most of their software from outside vendors.

Three kinds of outsourcing: Purchase of software packages Using application service providers (may rent) Custom outsourcing

Sources of Software29

Software package Prewritten off-the-shelf software

Application Service Providers (ASP): A business that delivers and manages applications and

computer services from remote computer centers to multiple users using the Internet or a private network

Software outsourcing Contract the development of custom software

Management Challenges27

Making wise infrastructure investmentsChoosing and coordinating infrastructure

componentsDealing with infrastructure change

scalabilityManagement and governance Model total cost of ownership (TCO)