What is IT system infrastructure?

Having a manageable IT system infrastructure is imperative in the smooth running of any business. IT infrastructure is a general term that encompasses all IT assets, such as hardware, software, networks, data, facilities, servers, components, systems, applications and resources, that are required to develop, test, deliver and support IT systems within an organization.

IT system infrastructure solutions

Many companies and businesses find that the best way to manage high demands associated with IT infrastructure is to hand these responsibilities to a managed service provider. By doing so, this will help organizations maximize productivity and provide better services to clients and business partners. Most service providers will be able to help you create a dynamic computing model which is suitable and specific for your needs. There are several IT system infrastructure solutions available in the market which encompasses a range of services. These solutions assist a company by maximizing availability and performance of business applications, reducing business risks and improving capability of supporting future growths in business. One common example of an IT system infrastructure solution is data centre optimization, which includes server consolidation and virtualization.

Server Consolidation

This approach involves the efficient use of computer server resources in order to reduce the total number of servers and/or server locations that an organization needs. This can be done by loading several different applications on the same server, in order to eliminate multiple, individual servers and maximise available resources. There are three main levels of server consolidation – centralized, physical and operational. Centralized consolidation involves moving servers from various branch officers to a central location. Physical consolidation involves reducing the number of servers by merging workload onto fewer servers. Operational consolidation, also known as virtualization runs multiple platforms and diverse applications on a single server.

Server virtualization

Although server consolidation increases the efficient use of server resources, it can also result in complex data configurations, and servers that can be confusing for average users to use. To help with this problem, server virtualization can be used to mask the details of server resources from users while optimizing resource sharing. Server virtualization enables multiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine as virtual machines. This way, you can consolidate workloads across multiple underutilized server machines onto a smaller number of machines. This means that only fewer machines are required, leading to reduced costs.