Week 6 - Enterprise Architecture

1.       What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how do they relate to each other?

I.T. architecture is defined as ‘a general plan of how IT is to be used within an organisation, it is useful for planning. It identifies where and how important information, such as customer records, is maintained and secured.’ (Baltzan et al 2010).

I.T infrastructure is defined as ‘the actual implementation that will provide for effective information systems, including the hardware, software, services and people involved.’ (Baltzan et al 2010).

Information architecture is architecture that knows what it wants to do; it is the organisation and the plan whereas information infrastructure is the actual program that fits into the plan.

2.       Describe how an organisation can implement a solid information architecture.

A solid information architecture system includes backup and recovery, disaster recovery and information security. Backup and recovery consists of an organisation making copies of their files and programs and moving them to an area where they cannot be damaged so as to back them up. Disaster recovery consist of an organisation implementing a strategy that ensures that their programs, data and files are not lost in the event of a disaster, such as moving data to an offsite place. Disaster recovery also consist of the organisation being able to access information if there is a catastrophic event. Information security means that the organisation does everything to ensure that staff are aware of the security risks and trains staff to comply with the safety, such as the changing of passwords and the logging off of computers.

Source: Lecture notes

3.       List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture. 

Source: Lecture notes

4.       Describe the business value in deploying a service oriented architecture 

Service oriented – I.T. intensive – around building system that can reuse for many different purposes.

e.g. Vodafone – new customers, credit check.

Service oriented architecture. Source: http://www.softwareexperts.net/DefServiceOriented.aspx

5.       What is an event? 

An event is defined as ‘an electronic message indicating that something has happened, it detects threats and opportunities and alerts those who can act on the information. (Baltzan et al, 2010).

An event is something like an electronic message indicating something has happened

6.       What is a service?

A service is defined as something that ‘contains a set of related commands that can be re-sued, it is more like a software product than they are a coding project.’ (Baltzan et al, 2010)

A service is a service that occurs as a response to an event (relevant)

7.       What emerging technologies can companies can use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively?

Virtual and grid computing are two examples of emerging technologies that companies can use to increase their performance and utilise their current infrastructure more effectively.

Virtual computing is a ‘framework of dividing the resources of a computer into multiple execution environments.’ (Baltzan et al, 2010). It is productive for an organisation to use virtual computing because it allows an organisation to increase their physical resources in a bid to maximise their hardware investment. Virtual computing has many benefits for an organisation that allows them to increase their performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively.

Grid computing is ‘an aggregation of geographically dispersed computing, storage and network resources, coordinated to deliver improved performance, higher quality of service, better utilisation and easier access to data.’ (Baltzan et al 2010)

Grid computing is typically used in projects of a scientific, e-commerce, technical or engineering nature. These projects frequently involve numerous processing cycles when completing a job.

Grid Computing. Source: http://www.adarshpatil.com/newsite/grid.htm