The term infrastructure entails all the components that are installed or implemented in a company to provide IT services. For example – software, hardware and network. In this article we will consider the basics and subsequently the components, so that you can understand what a basic IT infrastructure looks like in an environment.

So, in a company we have users who make use of the system, applications or software. These are the employees of the company/organization. Not every employee is a user of computer, but all users of the computer are employees of the company. A user interacts with the software with a desktop or laptop. They use various applications/software that patterns to the job role they are given. Other than the desktop or laptop they use, a typical company will also have some heavy duty computers called servers. These servers are also running applications/software. Some of these software/application running on the servers are accessible by the users through a browser.

Also, it is normal for a company to have more than one servers that are running databases. Databases are special software that manages data. In fact, some of the other software running on other servers will be interacting with the database server to either retrieve the data or to insert newly entered data. The database related activity happens in a database server in a properly arranged IT infrastructure.

Furthermore, these computers are connected to each other. How? There is a need for a connection between all the computers running in the company for a better flow of data and information. The application data connect with the database server to manage the data and the application server will have all the application related logic. Users can run tons of applications on their laptops. There is a need for interaction that serves as a pipeline to help enable data flow from one system to another. That pipeline is referred to as “network”. Lastly, there is hardware involved in the network as well. Reuters is a typical example. There are other types of hardware known to most computer users as well. The network is not simply a bunch of wires running from one computer to the other. There are various networks and applications running on various computers within the company. It is therefore necessary to have staff handling the roles associated with these positions. Everything that concerns IT infrastructure occurs within the company. However, a company interacts with the rest of the world through the internet, this is done through proper IT networking tools.