Components of an Operations Architecture

When we talk about operations architecture, we mean all the parts that together make up the IT infrastructure in a business. It involves networks, servers, storage, services, and security, and how everything fits together.

You are to create a small component overview and explain how at least three components work together. Start with a familiar network, either at home or at school. You do not need administrator access to observe and describe the components.

What is an Operational Architecture?

An operational architecture is an overview of all IT components in an environment and how they are connected. Think of it as a map of the entire IT system. It includes everything from physical hardware to software and security measures.

For a small business, this can be as simple as a router, a server, and a few PCs. For a larger organization, it can include hundreds of servers, multiple networks, cloud services, and much more.

Network Components

The network is the foundation of an operational architecture. Without the network, no devices can communicate.

Video: How hubs, switches, and routers distribute traffic

The video explains the difference between a hub, switch, and router, and what role they play in a network.

Task 1 - Map your home network

What kind of networking equipment do you have at home? Most people have at least a router from their internet service provider. Try to find out:

If you don’t have access to the home network, use the example architecture under “Putting it together”. Distinguish between what you observe and what you assume.

• Do you have a router, a switch, or a combination?
• Do you have a dedicated access point, or is WiFi built into the router?
• What is the IP address of your router? (Hint: ipconfig in the terminal on Windows)

Servers and clients

In a deployment architecture, we distinguish between servers and clients:

Video: What makes a machine a server

The video explains what characterizes a server and how servers differ from regular client machines.

A server does not need to be a large, expensive machine. An old laptop running Linux and sharing files over the network is technically a server. It’s about the role, not the size.

Storage

Data must be stored somewhere. In an operational architecture, there are several options:

Services and Software

The servers in an operational architecture run various services. Here are some common ones:

Monitoring and Security

To keep an operational architecture healthy, we need insight into what is happening:

Task 2 - Do you follow 3-2-1?

Think about your own school files:

• How many copies do you have of your projects?
• Do you only use OneDrive, or do you have something locally as well?
• What happens if you lose access to your Microsoft account?

Many find out that they only have one copy. That works until it doesn’t.

Virtualization

Instead of having a physical machine for each service, we can use virtualization to run multiple services on the same hardware:

Virtualization is one of the most important concepts in modern IT operations. It saves space, power, and makes it easier to manage services.

Putting it together

Video: Ways to connect a network

The video shows common network topologies and how devices can be connected in various ways.

Here is an example of what a simple operational architecture might look like for a small school:

flowchart TD
    I["Internet"] -->|network| RB["Router / Firewall"]
    RB -->|network| SW["Switch"]
    SW -->|network| S["Physical server with Proxmox"]
    SW -->|network| AP["WiFi Access Point"]
    SW -->|network| P["Printer"]
    SW -->|network| E["Student PCs"]
    S -->|runs| V1["VM: Web Server, Nginx"]
    S -->|runs| V2["VM: File Server, SAMBA"]
    S -->|runs| V3["Linux VM with Docker"]
    V3 -->|runs| C["Containers: Grafana and Loki"]

This is a component overview. “Network” refers to connections between devices, while “runs on” indicates where the software or virtual machine executes. The Docker containers in the example run inside the Linux VM. Use arrow notation when explaining relationships.

Task 3 - Draw the school’s architecture

Try to draw a simple overview of your school’s IT infrastructure (or at home). Feel free to use pen and paper, or a tool like draw.io.

• What network devices are there?
• How many networks do you think the school has? (Hint: students and staff are likely on different networks)
• Which services do you use daily? (Wi-Fi, file storage, printing, email…)

You don’t need to know everything. The point is to start thinking in systems.

You can draw an overview or create a numbered component list with named connections. Explain orally or in writing how at least three components are used when a student opens a webpage. If you have only listed names, add what each part does and which other parts it depends on. Compare with the example architecture and choose one relationship you would like to investigate further.

Summary

Do you want to use the subject matter in an independent assignment? [[Network Level 2 - Network setup email|The network and server offering]] asks you to select and justify components for a client. [[Monitoring Level 0 - What do metrics and logs tell us|Monitoring and logging]] has introductions and guides that support [[Observability Level 1 - Docker and Grafana|the submission task with Grafana]]. The assignments have different prerequisites; open the relevant task before you begin.

An operations architecture is about understanding the whole picture:

• Networking connects everything together
• Servers deliver services
• Storage safeguards the data
• Security protects against threats
• Monitoring gives you insight
• Virtualization saves resources

When you can describe these components and explain how they fit together, you have a good understanding of the operations architecture.