Chapter 1

Introduction to information technology

What is information technology (IT)?
IT is a term used to describe several things:
 The task of gathering data and processing it into information
 The ability to disseminate information using technology
 The technology itself that permits these tasks
 The collection of people who are in charge of maintaining the IT infrastructure (the
computers, the networks, the operating system).
Generically, we will consider IT to be the technology used in creating, maintaining, and making
information accessible.
In other words, IT combines people with computing resources, software, data, and computer
networks.
IT personnel
 Referred to collectively as “IT,” are those people whose job it is to supply and support IT.
 These include computer engineers who design and build computer chips, computer scientists
who write software for computers, and administrators who provide the IT infrastructure for
organizations.
 Most IT personnel, however, have two general roles: administration and support.
 An administrator is someone who is in charge of some portion of the IT infrastructure.
 Administrator Roles in IT
Role Job/Tasks
System Administrator Administer the computers in an organization; install software; modify/update operating
system; create accounts; train users; secure system; troubleshoot system; add hardware
Network Purchase, configure, and connect computer network; maintain computer network;
Administrator troubleshoot network; secure network from intrusion
Database Install, configure, and maintain database and database management system; back up
Administrator database; create accounts; train users
Web Administrator Install, configure, and maintain website through web server; secure website; work with
developers
Web Developer Design and create web pages and scripts for web pages; maintain websites
Security Install, configure, and administer firewall; create security policies; troubleshoot computer
Administrator system (including network); work proactively against intrusions
System Administration
 system administrator is the person (or people) who perform system administration.
 From a software point of view, administration requires installing software, making it
available, troubleshooting problems that arise during usage, and making sure that the
software is running efficiently.
 Additionally, the administrator(s) must understand the operating system well enough to
configure the software appropriately for the given organization, create accounts, and
safeguard the system from outside attack.
 From a hardware point of view, administration requires installing new hardware and
troubleshooting existing hardware.
 This may or may not include low-level tasks such as repairing components and laying
network cable.
 It may also require installing device driver software whenever new hardware is added.
 From a programming point of view, operating systems require “fine-tuning,” and thus
administrators will often have to write their own shell scripts to accomplish both simple
and complex tasks
Common tasks of a system administrator include:
 Account management: creating new user accounts and deleting obsolete user accounts.
 Password management: making sure that all users have passwords that agree with the security policy
(e.g., passwords must be changed every month, passwords must include at least one non-alphabetic
character
 File protection management: making sure that files are appropriately protected (for instance, making
sure that important documents are not writable by the outside world) and performing timely backups of
the file system.
 Installing and configuring new hardware and troubleshooting hardware including the network.
 Installing and configuring new software including updating new operating system (OS)
patches, and troubleshooting software
 Providing documentation, support, and training for computer users.
 Performing system-level programming as necessary (usually through scripting languages
rather than writing large-scale applications or systems software).
 Security: installing and maintaining a firewall, examining log files to see if there are any
odd patterns of attempted logins, and examining suspicious processes that perhaps
should not be running
It support:
 IT personnel provide support.
 Support usually comes in two forms: training and help desk.
 By training, the IT person is responsible for teaching new and current users how to use the IT
infrastructure.
 This may include such simple things as logging into the computer system, setting up printers, accessing
shared files, and perhaps training employees in how to use work-related software.
 The person might create documentation, helpful websites (including wiki pages), and even audiovisual
demos, or lead group or individualized training sessions.
 Because training occurs only as needed (new software, new employees), most support comes in the
form of a help desk.
 In essence, this requires that someone be available to respond to problems that arise at random times.
 Many large organizations offer 24/7 help desks.
 The help desk person might simply act as a switchboard, routing the problem to the proper IT person.
 In other cases, the help desk person can solve the problem directly, often over the phone but sometimes
by e-mail or in person.
Where is IT used?
 Nearly everyone on the planet uses some form of computing technology through cellular phones and
tablets or home computers, or through school and work.
 However, most IT personnel are hired to work in IT departments for organizations.
Type of Organization Typical Usage
Business E-commerce, customer records
Education Scholastic record keeping, support of teaching
Entertainment Digital editing, special effects, music composition, advertising
Government Record keeping, intelligence analysis, dissemination of information
Health/hospitals Record keeping, medical devices, insurance
Law enforcement Record keeping, information gathering, and dissemination
Manufacturing Design, automation/robotics
Research Computation, dissemination of information
IT Skills
Skill Description Example(s)
Troubleshooting, Detect a problem Diagnose its cause Find a Poor processor performance
problem solving solution (means of fixing it) Disk space full
Virus or Trojan horse infection
Knowledge of Operating system installation Versions of Linux
operating systems Application software installation Versions of Unix
User account creation Windows
System monitoring Mac OS
System level Shell scripts to automate processes Manipulating Bash, Csh scripts
programming configuration files for system services DOS scripts
Ruby scripts
C/C++ programs
Skill Description Example(s)
System security Ensuring proper system security is in place Configuring a system firewall
Following or drafting policies for users Monitoring Installing antiviral/antimalware software
for threats Examining log files for evidence of intrusion and
system security holes Keeping up with the latest
security patches
Hardware Installing and configuring new hardware Replacing CPUs and disk drives Connecting
Troubleshooting, replacing or repairing defective network cables to network hubs, switches, routers
hardware
IT student should:
 Enjoy playing around with the computer—not just using it, but learning how it works, learning how to
do things on it at the system level
 Enjoy learning on your own—liking the challenge of figuring things out, especially new things
 Think that technology is cool—to not be afraid of technology but to embrace it in all of its forms
 Enjoy troubleshooting
Unethical behavior might include:
 Spying on others (e-mail, web browsing habits, examining files)
 Setting up backdoor accounts to illegally access computer systems
 Illegally downloading software or files, or encouraging/permitting others to do so
 Performing theft or sabotage because of your system administration access
 What is computer?
 We will define a computer to be a piece of electronic equipment that is capable of running programs,
interacting with a user (via input–output devices), and storing data.
 These tasks are often referred to as the IPOS (input, processing, output, storage) cycle.
 A general purpose computer is one that can run any program.
Computers range in size and capability—from supercomputers that can fill a room, to desktop units that
are not very heavy but are not intended to be portable, to laptop units that are as light as perhaps a heavy
textbook, to handheld devices such as cell phones and mp3 players.
The general difference between a handheld unit and a desktop or laptop unit is the types of peripheral
devices available (full-sized keyboard and mouse versus touch screen, 20-in. monitor versus 2-in. screen),
the amount of memory and hard disk storage space, and whether external storage is available such as flash
drives via USB ports or optical disks via an optical disk drive.
IPOS Cycle
Computers perform the IPOS cycle
◦ I: input
◦ obtaining information (data, instructions) from outside the computer
◦ through input devices (keyboard, pointing device, disk file, network, microphone)
Computers perform the IPOS cycle
◦ P: processing
◦ executing program instructions using the processor
◦ instructions and data stored in memory
◦ instructions include
◦ data movement – move data between CPU and memory
◦ I/O – move data between CPU or memory and input/output device
◦ arithmetic/logic operations – computation
◦ branches – change to another location in the program
Computers perform the IPOS cycle
◦O: output
◦ send results of program code to output device
◦ output devices include monitor, printer, speaker
◦S: storage
◦ store results for permanence
◦ use storage device
◦ most commonly hard disk
◦ others include solid state drives (flash memory), optical disc, magnetic tape
IPOS Cycle
What is a processor?
 The main component of a computer is the processor.
 The processor’s role is to process— that is, it executes the programs we run on the computer.
 To run a program on a given computer, the program has to be compiled for that computer.
 Compilation is a language translation process that converts a program from a more readable form (say
Python or Java) into a computer’s machine language.
 A computer can only run programs that are written in that machine’s language.
Main memory
 Main memory (dynamic RAM) is composed of chips.
 Dynamic RAM offers fast access and often large storage capacity.
 However, some handheld devices do not have room for much dynamic RAM storage.
 Instead, they use flash memory storage, which is more limited in capacity.
 Long-term storage most commonly uses hard disk drives but can also comprise optical disk, flash
memory, and magnetic tape.
 Long-term storage is far greater in capacity than the short-term storage of main memory, and because
additional storage space can always be purchased, we might view long-term storage capacity as
unlimited.
 Storage Sizes
Size Meaning Example
1 bit A single 0 or 1 Smallest unit of storage, might store 1 black-and-white pixel or 1 true/false value, usually
we have to combine many bits to create anything meaningful
1 byte (1B) 8 bits We might store a number from 0 to 255 or –128 to 127, or a single character (letter of the
alphabet, digit, punctuation mark)
1 word 32 or 64 bits One piece of data such as a number or a program instruction 1 KB 1024 bytes We might
store a block of memory in this size
1 MB ~1 million bytes A small image or a large text file, an mp3 file of a song might take between 3 and 10 MB, a
50-min TV show highly compressed might take 350 MB
1 GB ~1 billion bytes A library of songs or images, dozens of books, a DVD requires several gigabytes of storage
(4–8 GB)
1 TB ~1 trillion bytes A library of movies
 peripheral devices
 we usually refer to peripherals as devices that are outside the computer, or more specifically, outside of
the system unit.
 The system unit is the box that contains the motherboard (which houses the CPU and memory) and the
disk drive units.
 The peripherals are devices that are either too large to fit inside the system unit, or devices that must be
accessible by the human users
 These devices are our input and output devices—keyboard, mouse, track point, track ball or joystick,
monitor, printer, speakers, pen and tablet (writing area) or light pen, etc.
 Without these input and output devices (known as I/O devices collectively), humans would not be able
to interact with the computer.
 If all input data comes from a disk file and all output data similarly will be stored to disk file, there may
be no need for the computer to interact with the human.
 But the human will eventually want to know what the program did.
communication device(s).
 A communication device is one that lets a computer communicate with other computers.
 These devices are typically MODEMs, which can either require connection to a telephone line (or
perhaps a cable TV coaxial line) or be wireless.
 Nearly all laptop computers today come with wireless MODEMs, whereas desktop units may come
with a wired or wireless MODEM.
 However, in cases where computers are connected to a local area network (LAN), the computer requires
a network connection instead of or in addition to the MODEM.
 The LAN connection is by means of a network card, often an Ethernet card.
Computer components
1. System unit, which houses
◦ a. The motherboard, which contains
◦ i. The CPU
◦ ii. A cooling unit for the CPU
◦ iii. Possibly extra processors (for instance, for graphics)
◦ iv. Memory chips for RAM, ROM
◦ v. Connectors for peripherals (sometimes known as ports)
◦ vi. Expansion slots for other peripheral device cards
◦ vii. The ROM BIOS for booting and basic input and output instructions viii. Power supply connector
◦ b. Disk drives
◦ c. Fan units
◦ d. Power supply
2. A monitor and keyboard
3. Typically some form of pointing device (mouse, track point, track ball)
4. Speakers (optional)
5. MODEM or network card (these are typically located inside the system unit, plugged into one of the
expansion slots)
6. Printer (optional)
7. External storage devices such as external hard disk and tape drive
What is Software ?
 A program, also known as software is a list of instructions that detail to the computer what to do.
 These instructions are written in a programming language, such as Java or Python. Programming
language instructions must be very descriptive
 There are many forms of software, but we generally divide them into two categories:
 system software (the operating system)
 application software (programs that we run to accomplish our tasks such as a word processor, an Internet
browser or a computer game).
 Computer users:
 Without the human, the computer would not have anything to do.
 It is the user who initiates the processes on the computer. “Do this now, do that later.”
 We may want to interact with the programs while they run.
 This interactivity is done through the I/O devices