Information technology

IT is the area of managing technology and spans wide variety of areas that
include but are not limited to things such as processes, computer
software, information systems, computer hardware, programming
languages, and data constructs. In short, anything that renders data,
information or perceived knowledge in any visual format whatsoever, via
any multimedia distribution mechanism, is considered part of the domain
space known as Information Technology (IT).
IT professionals perform a variety of functions (IT
Disciplines/Competencies) that ranges from installing applications to
designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of
the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management,
networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software
design, as well as management and administration of entire systems.
Information technology is starting to spread further than the
conventional personal computer and network technology, and more into
integrations of other technologies such as the use of cell phones,
televisions, automobiles, and more, which is increasing the demand for
such jobs.
In the recent past, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology and the Association for Computing Machinery have
collaborated to form accreditation and curriculum standards for degrees in
Information Technology as a distinct field of study as compared
to Computer Science and Information Systems today. SIGITE (Special
Interest Group for IT Education) is the ACM working group for defining
these standards. The Worldwide IT services revenue totaled $763 billion in
2009.
Uses of information technology

Enabling Active Engagement in Construction of Knowledge

 SimCity 2000 enables students to establish a city and make financial,

human, and ecological trade-offs to develop an optimum growth
environment. Each city is unique and provides the opportunity to play out
factors such as education, public safety, and infrastructure in different
balances and observe their long-term effects.

Making Available Real-World Situations

 A Right to Die? The case of Dax Cowart presents the actual case of a
severe burn victim, including footage of the injuries and treatment,
and interviews of the patient, his physician, and a lawyer. Students of
ethics and medicine are challenged to decide whether or not they
agree with the patient's wish to stop his painful treatment and die.
They are then presented with conflicting arguments
Providing Representations in Multiple Modalities
 Mathematica software enables students to see a graphical
representation of any function. By changing equations or using
different values for variables, students develop a deeper
understanding of mathematics by viewing changes in the graphical
representations.
Providing Representations in Multiple Modalities
 Mathematical software enables students to see a graphical
representation of any function. By changing equations or using
different values for variables, students develop a deeper
understanding of mathematics by viewing changes in the graphical
representations.
 History of Information Technology:

 In relative terms, it wasn't long ago that the Information Technology

department might have consisted of a single Computer Operator, who
might be storing data on magnetic tape, and then putting it in a box down
in the basement somewhere. The history of information technology is
fascinating! Check out these history of information technology resources
for information on everything from the history of IT to electronics
inventions and even the top 10 IT bugs.

Modern Information Technology Departments:

 In order to perform the complex functions required of information
technology departments today, the modern Information Technology
Department would use computers, servers, database management
systems, and cryptography. The department would be made up of several
System Administrators, Database Administrators and at least one
Information Technology Manager. The group usually reports to the Chief
Information Officer (CIO).
 Operating system

An operating system (OS) is software, consisting of programs and data,

that runs on computers, manages computer hardware resources, and provides
common services for execution of various application software.

 For hardware functions such as input and output and memory allocation, the
operating system acts as an intermediary between application programs and
the computer hardware, although the application code is usually executed
directly by the hardware and will frequently call the OS or be interrupted by
it. Operating systems are found on almost any device that contains a
computer—from cellular phones and video game consoles to
supercomputers and web servers.

 Examples of popular modern operating systems are: BSD, Linux, Mac OS

X, Microsoft Windows and UNIX.

Types
Real-time
A real-time operating system is a multitasking operating system that aims at
executing real-time applications. Real-time operating systems often use
specialized scheduling algorithms so that they can achieve a deterministic
nature of behavior. The main object of real-time operating systems is their
quick and predictable response to events. They either have an event-driven
or a time-sharing design. An event-driven system switches between tasks
based on their priorities while time-sharing operating systems switch tasks
based on clock interrupts.

Multi-user vs. Single-user

A multi-user operating system allows multiple users to access a computer
system concurrently. Time-sharing system can be classified as multi-user
systems as they enable a multiple user access to a computer through the
sharing of time. Single-user operating systems, as opposed to a multi-user
operating system, are usable by a single user at a time. Being able to have
multiple accounts on a Windows operating system does not make it a multi-
user system. Rather, only the network administrator is the real user. But for a
Unix-like operating system, it is possible for two users to login at a time and
this capability of the OS makes it a multi-user operating system.
Multi-tasking vs. Single-tasking
When a single program is allowed to run at a time, the system is grouped
under a single-tasking system, while in case the operating system allows the
execution of multiple tasks at one time, it is classified as a multi-tasking
operating system. Multi-tasking can be of two types namely, pre-emptive or
co-operative. In pre-emptive multitasking, the operating system slices the
CPU time and dedicates one slot to each of the programs. Unix-like
operating systems such as Solaris and Linux support pre-emptive
multitasking. Cooperative multitasking is achieved by relying on each
process to give time to the other processes in a defined manner. MS
Windows prior to Windows 95 used to support cooperative multitasking.

Distributed
A distributed operating system manages a group of independent computers
and makes them appear to be a single computer. The development of
networked computers that could be linked and communicate with each other,
gave rise to distributed computing. Distributed computations are carried out
on more than one machine. When computers in a group work in cooperation,
they make a distributed system.

Embedded
Embedded operating systems are designed to be used in embedded computer
systems. They are designed to operate on small machines like PDAs with
less autonomy. They are able to operate with a limited number of resources.
They are very compact and extremely efficient by design. Windows CE and
Minix 3 are some examples of embedded operating systems.
 Examples of operating systems

Unix and Unix-like operating systems

Ken Thompson wrote B, mainly based on BCPL, which he used to write Unix,
based on his experience in the MULTICS project. B was replaced by C, and Unix
developed into a large, complex family of inter-related operating systems which
have been influential in every modern operating system (see History). The Unix-
like family is a diverse group of operating systems, with several major sub-
categories including System V, BSD, and GNU/Linux. The name "UNIX" is a
trademark of The Open Group which licenses it for use with any operating system
that has been shown to conform to their definitions. "Unix-like" is commonly used
to refer to the large set of operating systems which resemble the original Unix.

Unix-like systems run on a wide variety of machine architectures. They are used
heavily for servers in business, as well as workstations in academic and
engineering environments. Free Unix variants, such as GNU/Linux and BSD, are
popular in these areas.

Some Unix variants like HP's HP-UX and IBM's AIX are designed to run only on
that vendor's hardware. Others, such as Solaris, can run on multiple types of
hardware, including x86 servers and PCs. Apple's Mac OS X, a hybrid kernel-
based BSD variant derived from NeXTSTEP , Mach, and FreeBSD, has replaced
Apple's earlier (non-Unix) Mac OS.

Unix interoperability was sought by establishing the POSIX standard. The POSIX
standard can be applied to any operating system, although it was originally created
for various Unix variants.

Google Chrome OS

Chrome is an operating system based on the Linux kernel and designed by Google.
Chrome targets computer users who spend most of their time on the Internet—it is
technically only a web browser with no other applications, and relies on internet
applications used in the web browser to accomplish tasks such as word processing
and media viewing.