IT Infrastructure Course

Lesson 1 • Infrastructure Service Models

Introduces IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS delivery models and their operational implications. Sets the stage for cloud and hybrid architecture chapters.

Lesson 2 • Defining IT Infrastructure

Establishes what IT infrastructure is and why it matters to organizations. Connects hardware, software, and services into a unified operational model.

Lesson 3 • Core Hardware Components

Covers servers, storage devices, and end-user hardware as physical building blocks. Provides vocabulary needed for all subsequent hardware-focused chapters.

Lesson 4 • Infrastructure Documentation Basics

Teaches diagramming conventions and asset inventory practices essential for managing infrastructure. Outcomes feed directly into design and operations chapters.

Lesson 1 • Wireless and WAN Technologies

Explains Wi-Fi standards, cellular connectivity, and wide-area network options. Prepares students to evaluate connectivity choices for distributed environments.

Lesson 2 • Network Troubleshooting Methodology

Applies a structured diagnostic process to common network faults. Reinforces OSI model knowledge through practical fault-isolation exercises.

Lesson 3 • Network Devices and Their Roles

Examines switches, routers, firewalls, and load balancers as functional infrastructure components. Connects device selection to topology and performance requirements.

Lesson 4 • IP Addressing and Subnetting

Covers IPv4 and IPv6 addressing schemes, subnetting math, and CIDR notation. Students gain the calculation skills required for network design tasks.

Lesson 1 • Operating System Installation and Configuration

Covers bare-metal OS deployment, partitioning, and post-install hardening steps. Establishes a secure, consistent baseline for all server workloads.

Lesson 2 • Server Performance Monitoring

Teaches metric collection, baseline establishment, and alert configuration for servers. Connects performance data to capacity planning and incident response workflows.

Lesson 3 • Server Hardware Architecture

Examines CPU, memory, and I/O subsystems that determine server performance. Builds hardware literacy needed for capacity planning and procurement decisions.

Lesson 4 • Virtualization Concepts and Hypervisors

Introduces Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors and virtual machine lifecycle management. Enables students to consolidate workloads and optimize hardware utilization.

Lesson 1 • RAID and Disk Redundancy

Explains RAID levels, their fault-tolerance trade-offs, and rebuild implications. Equips students to select appropriate redundancy for given workload profiles.

Lesson 2 • Storage Protocols and Connectivity

Covers iSCSI, Fibre Channel, NFS, and SMB as the primary storage transport protocols. Links protocol choice to network infrastructure and latency requirements.

Lesson 3 • Backup and Recovery Strategies

Defines backup types, retention policies, and recovery time objectives for data protection. Prepares students to build backup plans that satisfy business continuity requirements.

Lesson 4 • Storage Architecture Types

Compares DAS, NAS, and SAN architectures across performance, scalability, and cost dimensions. Provides the decision framework used throughout the storage design sections.

Lesson 1 • Cloud Networking and Connectivity

Explains virtual private clouds, subnets, and hybrid connectivity options such as VPN and dedicated links. Builds on networking fundamentals to address cloud-specific topology challenges.

Lesson 2 • Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategies

Evaluates workload placement, data gravity, and vendor lock-in trade-offs in hybrid models. Prepares students to make informed decisions about cloud adoption scope.

Lesson 3 • Cloud Cost Management

Introduces reserved instances, right-sizing, and tagging strategies to control cloud spend. Connects financial governance to infrastructure design and operational practices.

Lesson 4 • Compute and Storage in the Cloud

Maps virtual machines, containers, and managed storage services to on-premises equivalents. Enables students to translate existing skills into cloud operational tasks.

Lesson 1 • Compliance and Audit Readiness

Maps infrastructure controls to common regulatory frameworks and prepares evidence for audits. Connects technical controls to organizational compliance obligations.

Lesson 2 • Identity and Access Management

Covers authentication methods, role-based access control, and privileged access management. Directly reduces the risk of unauthorized access to infrastructure resources.

Lesson 3 • Endpoint and Server Hardening

Applies configuration baselines, patch management, and antimalware controls to servers and endpoints. Reduces exploitable vulnerabilities across the compute layer.

Lesson 4 • Security Fundamentals for Infrastructure

Establishes the CIA triad, threat modeling, and attack surface concepts as a security baseline. Frames all subsequent security controls within a risk management context.

Lesson 1 • Containerization and Orchestration

Introduces container images, registries, and orchestration platforms as modern deployment targets. Extends automation skills to container-based workload management.

Lesson 2 • Provisioning and Orchestration

Applies IaC templates to provision cloud and on-premises resources in a repeatable manner. Builds the automation skills required for CI/CD pipeline integration.

Lesson 3 • CI/CD Pipelines for Infrastructure

Integrates infrastructure code into continuous integration and delivery pipelines. Enables automated testing and safe promotion of infrastructure changes.

Lesson 4 • Infrastructure as Code Principles

Introduces declarative and imperative IaC approaches and their operational benefits. Establishes the mindset shift from manual to code-driven infrastructure management.

Lesson 1 • Monitoring, Observability, and Alerting

Builds a unified observability stack using metrics, logs, and traces across all infrastructure layers. Enables proactive detection and rapid diagnosis of service degradation.

Lesson 2 • IT Governance and Strategic Alignment

Aligns infrastructure decisions with organizational strategy, risk appetite, and budget constraints. Equips students to communicate infrastructure value to non-technical stakeholders.

Lesson 3 • Disaster Recovery Planning

Designs recovery strategies aligned to RTO and RPO targets for critical infrastructure. Prepares students to build and test DR plans that satisfy business continuity requirements.

Lesson 4 • IT Service Management Frameworks

Applies service management best practices to incident, change, and problem processes. Provides the operational governance structure that ties all infrastructure work together.