The Internet infrastructure includes data centers, networks, servers, storage devices, and server applications. It is a worldwide phenomenon that allows information to be transmitted globally. The components work together to send and receive data to end-users’ devices.
Internet infrastructure is a set of remote hardware and software that work to send and receive information to various systems. Each instance of a page loading on a computer’s Web browser, a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed streaming to a player, or a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call being made represents this complex Internet infrastructure. Its basic components include data centers, networks, servers, storage devices and server applications. The hardware may be localized in specific countries, but the network infrastructure crosses international borders to make the Internet a worldwide phenomenon available in any region that has a working localized network.
The home of the Internet infrastructure is the data center, a secure building that houses IT equipment and network connectivity devices. It is maintained by a team of full-time operators and equipped with sufficient power to run and cool the equipment. It also has systems to regulate climate, suppress fires, and prevent unauthorized access.
A network of processors and storage devices within a data center is the second component of the Internet infrastructure. Measured in megabits per second (mbps), networking allows data to be transferred between processors and storage devices in the data center and to other data centers. The ultimate goal is for the information to reach the end user’s computer or device.
The third component, servers, are high-end computers that look like a desktop PC, but with much greater storage and processing capabilities. Servers are measured in units of processing power and RAM storage capacity and must be connected to a power supply or multiple power supplies as well as the network and an installed operating system. A server can consist of a single computer, a pool of computers, or even a cluster of pools.
The data that ultimately appears on an end user’s device must be stored somewhere, so the fourth component of the internet infrastructure is storage devices. Storage capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB). Storage devices can be local, i.e. on the hard drives of the servers themselves, or they can be remote, connected to one or more servers via a network.
The fifth component of the Internet infrastructure is the operating software for servers or server applications. To work, a server must have an operating system such as Linux or Windows, a web server application such as Apache or Microsoft IIS, and a database such as MySQL or Oracle. Once a server is equipped with this software, the user can install any other necessary subsidiary Web applications on it. All components work together to form the Internet infrastructure, which transmits information around the world.
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