Custom Building of an IT Infrastructure of an Organization - Assignment Example

Custom Building of an IT Infrastructure of an Organization Introduction For an organization to stay on focus of its aims and objectives, information must flow freely without much interference within and outside the organization. This proper flow can be enhances by the selection of the right IT infrastructure for the organization. By use of the right IT tools, (mainly computers and its accessories) data and information should be able to flow freely within the organization and also outside the company while retaining a high standard of information security. Although most of the IT infrastructural tools can be bought off the shelf, it is highly recommended that these tools be customized according to their intended purpose within the organization. This not only ensures that the IT resources available are properly utilized towards the profitability of the company, but also it ensures the organization saves on the money that could have been used from frequent upgrades due to the inability of the currently available IT infrastructure to manage the ever increasing volume and complexity of work. In other words, customization helps an organization to get the right tool for the right job. Methods of Custom Building Your IT Infrastructure Once the organization has come to an understanding with the IT department too custom build the IT infrastructure, there are various methods which can be of great help in achieving this. Some of these methods are as explained below. 1. Hiring an expert/IT consultant to undertake the whole process on your behalf. There is this famous saying that says: “if you can’t beat them, join them.” You can never defeat an expert in his own game, so, the only constructive choice that you have is to seek out his expertise to improve the way you handle your operations. This method of building your IT infrastructure is the best so far since in as much you get expert advice on how you can solve your problems with their diverse experience and knowledge; they will give you different alternatives and then help you in deciding the right avenue for your organization. One of the advantages that makes this method stand out is that experts will never go wrong in helping you to decide for your organization (this statement is only true if you let them understand your business’ operations). The disadvantage of this method is that experts are always expensive to hire or consult. 2. Empowering the IT department in your company to undertake this task. One of the greatest assets that a company can have when it comes to technology is the IT department. The skills and long term experience possessed by the employees in this department can easily be harnessed by the company into the development of their IT infrastructure since they are well conversant with the company’s operations. The advantage of using this method to custom build the IT infrastructure of the company is that, it is cheap since all the expenses involved are considered to be departmental and can be easily be incorporated in the budget. The disadvantage of this method is that if the IT department is well skilled to undertake the task in question, the company may be forced to hire an external consultant or expert to help in this project through to the implementation stage. 3. Buying different computer components and accessories then fixing them together all by you. Most of the people who understand well the field of information technology can comfortably undertake the task of custom building of the company’s IT infrastructure so long as they have all the required resources. By using this method, the only expense incurred is the amount of money spent in the purchase of different components to be used during this process. Just like the method 2 described above, this method is fairly cheap to implement since one only need to cover the cost of IT components to be used in the process. The disadvantage is that, without good skills and knowledge of this field of IT, it is almost impossible for one to undertake this task alone. 4. Buying a readymade product off the shelf. In this method, the organization can decide to search for IT products that fit their specification directly from the computer shops. The advantage of this is that the organization saves time by buying the IT products that have or closely resemble the requirements that they needed rather than building it from scratch. On the other hand, the organization using this method of acquisition has a limitation of choice. They are only able to choose from the readily available standardized computer models some of which might not meet the requirements of their organization. This method is therefore not recommended especially if the organization is not in a rush to acquire proper tools for their IT infrastructure. Although each of the above methods have its own advantages, it is always a good idea to get an expert in the field of information technology to handle all the issues related to the custom building of your company’s IT infrastructure. This is only possible if your IT department has the necessary skills to perform these tasks. If not, you will have to hire an external consultant or experts to head in the implementation of this task. It is for this reason that method 1 (Hiring an expert/IT consultant to undertake the whole process on your behalf), proves to be the best method to implement the project of custom building your company’s IT infrastructure. There are several ways in which these customizations can be done depending on the resources and skills available at the time of implementation. Although a ready to use computer can be bought off the shelf for a specific job function, customization offers the company a chance to build their own IT infrastructure according to the job functions that it is intended for. This has been made possible by the evolution of the Central processing Unit (CPU) of the computer considered as the ‘brain’ of the computer. Facts and Findings After a thorough research on the best solutions that should be used at Bellamy & Biggs, the following facts and findings were noted. The evolution of the CPU from the 1st generation through to the 8th generation has created a lot of technological possibilities in the field of information technology and information systems. From the Intel 4004 as the first commercial CPU developed in 1971 to the Intel Core 2 Duo which are currently in the market, an organization has a variety of choice to select from and decide which computer will best serve the functions in their organization. Compatibility of parts even makes it possible for one to customize their computer system according to their needs. The following are the proposed specification for each job function as intended by Bellamy & Biggs. 1. Desktop with high end graphics capabilities Desktop computer with high graphics functionality is required to have a processer which can respond quickly to instructions of the used. For good display of information which mostly consists of graphics, the desktop should have a good graphics card which can be obtained from popular manufacturers like NVIDIA, ATI, and EVGA. Examples of popular graphics cards popular in the markets are the EGA, VGA and SGA. The following are the technical specifications for a good and reliable desktop computer that will be used for high end graphical works by the business. i. Anything from 2.6GHz Intel Dual Core processor can handle all your work since jobs that deal with graphics tend to use more processing power of a computer. But for better results, it is advisable to go for an Intel Dual Core processor of 3.0GHz so that you do not think of upgrading your computer soon. ii. 4GB of RAM. The RAM of a computer acts as the interface between the hard disk and the processor. The difference between the RAM and the hard disk is that RAM can only store information when electricity current is flowing through it and once the electrical power is disconnected, it loses all the data and information stored in it. This therefore means that the larger the RAM, the betters since it will be able to store more information from the hard disk for the processor to use therefore improving the overall speed of the computer. For a desktop computer meant for high graphics functionality, a RAM of not less than 3GB should be used. iii. 250GB hard drive or more. The larger space in the hard drive is for storing information and data of the various tasks undertake by this computer. Graphic files normally occupy larger space in the hard drive compared to text files. Therefore, to be safe from running out of storage space, this computer should have a hard drive of not less than 250GB and if possible it should have a hard drive of 500GB and an external storage drive of the same capacity or more. iv. DVD RW is also required for the purpose of reading and writing to and from the DVDs. v. Sound card for audio output. Since some of the graphics might involve audio file incorporated in them, a good sound card must be included in the setup of this computer system. vi. An integrated video card. vii. Operating System (OS) of Windows 7 which is more advanced and secure compared to the earlier versions of windows. 2. Office desktop for daily office tasks There are quite a number of things that can be performed by an office desktop most of which require an average processing power of the CPU. The processing is largely determined by the kind of programs used in the office. Below are the critical specifications that are crucial in a desktop computer used in the daily to daily office tasks. i. 2.0GHz Intel Dual Core processor – Daily office tasks does not always include multi tasking. An Intel Dual Core processor of 2.0GHz or higher is good enough to handle the processing task of such a computer. ii. 4GB of RAM. This RAM should be used for the best performance to be achieved even though even a RAM of 2GB or higher can still serve the same purpose, since we are building a custom computer and not taking one off the shelf, a RAM of 4GB is the best we can customize with. iii. 250GB hard drive or more. Even though most of the office tasks involve small files, the numerous numbers of these files can slowly build up to occupy a larger space in the hard drive than anticipated. With this in mind, the best size of the Hard Drive should be not less than 250GB so that we avoid frequent upgrades due to lack of enough space in future. iv. DVD RW for reading and copying files from the DVD disc storage. v. Sound card for audio output. vi. Integrated video card for quality video output. vii. Operating System (OS) of Windows 7 which is more advanced and secure compared to the earlier versions of windows. 3. Thin client system for the company’s cloud based resources an applications The emergence of the server based computing (SBC) has facilitated the introduction of thin clients which are mainly used to access a centrally situated programs normally in server. They normally do not have all the functionalities like the desktop computers since their work is to access the programs and software from a remote server. The following are the technical specifications as presented by Devon IT. (Devon IT). a. Processor – Intel Atom N270 1.6Hz Dual Thread or higher which improves the speed to which it accesses the server, b. 1GB RAM for speed acceleration. c. Four USB 2.0 Ports for addition of external peripherals. d. Audio-Out Jack (3.5mm)One Headset Jack (3.5mm) which can be connected to an external speaker for audio output. e. ‘Dual monitor support up to 1920 x 1200’ f. ‘VESA monitor support with Display Data Control (DDC) for automatic setting of resolution and refresh rate’ Graphics a. Intel 945GSE with Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950 for improved graphics display. b. Pixel Shader 2.0, DirectX 9, Open GL 1.4 for improved display resolution. c. Networking and LAN Support d. Servers Supported for accessing cloud based information and other resources. e. Displays Windows desktops, Web browsers, and applications from multi-user servers Thin clients can always be upgraded for improved performance with time. Operating Systems There are several operating systems available in the market today which include Windows and Apple OS X. Each operating system has its own advantages over others and for our case; Windows Operating System has been found to be the best choice due to the following reasons: a. Compatibility. Window operating system is compatible with many personal computers in the market today. This compatibility combined by good hardware support has enable Microsoft to be the world’s number 1 choice of operating systems from most organization. b. Ease of use Numerous tutorials provided by Microsoft on their operating system have made it much easier to use both by novice computer uses and professional experts. c. Frequent Updates One thing that has kept Windows Operating System to stay as the number one choice of OS in the market is the frequent updates offered by Microsoft. The fixing of bugs and advancement of functionalities has made it possible for this OS to be accessible in numerous versions from which a user can choose from. d. Availability of software programs Software programs and games are readily available for Windows OS due to the large number of people using Microsoft Windows Operating System. It is because of the above reasons that it is recommended that the organization choose to use Microsoft Windows Operating System in its computers. In conclusion, the customization of the IT infrastructure of an organization can benefit that organization in a number of ways. One, the organization gets to choose what IT equipment is right for what type of job. Second, Recommendations The following are the recommendations that have been passed forward: The desktops in the company to use Windows Operating System If possible, all processors for the desktop machines should not be less than 3.0GB. References ComputerHope (2010) i Linux vs. Windows, [online] Available at: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000575.htm [Accessed: 23rd Nov 2010]. CoolInterview (2010) i Advantages and disadvantages of windows and Linux os, [online] Available at: http://www.coolinterview.com/interview/15538/ [Accessed: 23rd Nov 2010]. Techs-on-Call (2008) i CPU Histroy, [online] Available at: http:// www.techs-on-call.biz [Accessed: 22rd Nov 2010]. James A. OBrien (2003). Introduction to Information Systems, Eleventh .New York: McGraw-Hill. 79-81 Read More