Updated 2025 with complete solution
What are core components of IT? - ANSWERHardware
Software
People
What are some visions and goals of IT? - ANSWERCommunication, both internal and
external
Sharing of resources
Facilitating the integration of Departments
Management of Information
Ensuring that the organization runs according to ethical practices
Why is IT viewed as a system? - ANSWERA system is a combination of independent
parts all working together to accomplish a goal.
What are some skills needed by IT personnel? - ANSWERTroubleshooting and problem
solving.
Knowledge of operating systems.
System level programming.
System security
Hardware
Describe trouble shooting (IT Skill) - ANSWERDetect and diagnose a problem, then find
a solution. Examples: Poor processor performance, full hard drive, virus or other
malware.
Describe knowledge of OS's (IT Skill) - ANSWEROperating system installation,
application software installation, user account creation, system monitoring. Examples:
versions of Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Unix, etc.
Describe system level programming (IT Skill) - ANSWERShell scripts to automate
processes, manipulating configuration files for system services. Examples: Bash, Csh
scripts, Ruby scripts, C/C++ programs
Describe system security (IT Skill) - ANSWEREnsuring proper system security is in
place. Following or drafting policies for users. Monitoring for threats. Examples: Keeping
security patches up to date, configuring a system firewall, installing anti-malware
software, examining log files of evidence of breaches or attacks.
,Describe hardware (IT Skill) - ANSWERInstalling and configuring new hardware.
Troubleshooting, repairing, or replacing defective hardware. Examples: replacing CPUs
and disk drives, connecting network cables to network hubs, switches, routers.
What are some System Administrator duties? - ANSWERAccount 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.
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.
What are some Network Administrator duties? - ANSWERphysically laying down cable.
making connections.
working with the network hardware (for instance, routers and switches).
like the system administrator, the network administrator will edit configuration files,
install software (related to the network), and so forth.
Troubleshooting the network may combine physical troubleshooting (e.g., is a cable
bad?) and software troubleshooting.
There is also a security aspect to the computer network. Both the system administrator
and network administrator may work on system firewalls. Editing configuration files,
writing shell scripts, and installing software and patches will all be part of a network
administrators tasks.
Describe a Database Administrator's duties. - ANSWERLike system administrators,
database administrators have a long list of important responsibilities, but with a focus on
,the design, development, and support of database management systems (DBMSs).
Tasks will include installation, maintenance, performance analysis, and troubleshooting
as with the other administrative areas. There are specific applications, performance
tuning parameters, account creation, and procedures associated with the DBMS that
are separate from those of system administrators and web administrators. The
database administrator may also be involved with the integration of data from older
systems to new ones. As many or most database systems are now available over the
Internet (or at least over local area networks), the administrator must also ensure proper
security measures for remote access.
Describe a Security Administrator's duties. - ANSWERMust stay informed of the many
different types of attacks, such as denial of service attacks on web servers, IP spoofing
to intercept messages, and buffer overflow that allows a hacker to invade computer
memory with their own code. Although these are all known forms of attacks, it does not
necessarily mean that a system is protected against them. And as these attacks are
known, newer attacks are being thought of. It is the responsibility of the security
administrator to install, configure, and administer appropriate firewall security to protect
the organization's systems and to work proactively against such intrusions.
Describe a Web Administrator's (aka Webmaster) duties. - ANSWERThe web
administrator, also known as a webmaster, but more precisely referred to as a web
server administrator, is responsible for maintaining websites. This responsibility differs
from the development of websites. Specifically, the web administrator must install,
configure, maintain, secure, and troubleshoot the web server. The web server is
software that runs on one or more computers. The web administrator may or may not be
responsible for the hardware. Typically, the web administrator is not a system
administrator on that or those computers. Therefore, the web administrator will have to
work with the system administrator on some aspects of installation and configuration.
Securing the web server becomes critical for businesses. Individuals outside and inside
the organization may have reason to access data on the web-server without
authorization thus requiring the need for securing the web server. The web
administrator may be required to set up password files and establish locations where
server scripts can be stored and tested. Security may be implemented directly through
the web server software, or added through the operating system, or some combination.
Security issues may be discovered by analyzing log files that are also used for data
mining.
What are the two most common support IT roles asides from administrators? -
ANSWERtraining, and help desk. Training occurs as needed, but many help desks are
available 24/7.
What is information technology? - ANSWERTask of gathering data and processing it
into information.
The ability to disseminate information using technology.
, The wtechnology witself wthat wpermits wthese wtasks.
The wcollection wof wpeople wwho ware win wcharge wof wmaintaining wthe wIT winfrastructure w(the
wcomputers, wthe wnetworks, wthe woperating wsystem).
Generic wdefinition wof wIT. w- wANSWERWe wwill wconsider wIT wto wbe wthe wtechnology wused win
wcreating, wmaintaining, wand wmaking winformation waccessible. wIn wother wwords, wIT wcombines
wpeople wwith wcomputing wresources, wsoftware, wdata, wand wcomputer wnetworks.
IT wpersonnel, wsometimes wreferred wto wcollectively was w"IT," ware wthose wpeople wwhose wjob
wit wis wto wsupply wand wsupport wIT. wThese winclude wcomputer wengineers wwho wdesign wand
wbuild wcomputer wchips, wcomputer wscientists wwho wwrite wsoftware wfor wcomputers, wand
wadministrators wwho wprovide wthe wIT winfrastructure wfor worganizations.
Define winformation. w- wANSWERInformation wis woften wdefined was wprocessed wdata. wThat
wis, wraw wdata ware wthe winput wand winformation wis wthe woutput wof wsome wprocess. wIn wfact,
wmore wgenerically, wwe wshould wthink wof winformation was wany wform wof winterpreted wdata.
What wdoes wDIKW wHierarchy wstand wfor wand wwhat wis wit's wpurpose? w- wANSWERData,
wInformation, wKnowledge, wWisdom. wIt wdescribes wthe wtransition wof wdata wto winformation wto
wknowledge wto wwisdom.
Define wdata win wrelation wto wDIKW wHierarchy. w- wANSWERData wis wthe winput wdirectly
wreceived wby wthe whuman wor wcomputer.
Describe wways wa wcomputer wmay wreceive wdata w(relates wto wDIKW). w- wANSWERUser wentered
wvalues wfrom wapplication, wcamera, wmicrophone, wbar wcode wreader, wsensor, wpen wtablet, wetc.
When wdoes wdata wbecome wusable? w- wANSWERAfter wit's wbeen wconverted wto wa
wrelevant wform, wfor wcomputers wthis wwould wbe wbinary wrepresentation.
In wthe wDIKW wHierarchy wwhat wdo wwe wmean wwhen wwe wsay winformation whas wbeen
winferred wfrom wdata? w- wANSWERThat wone wor wmore wprocesses whave wbeen wapplied
wto wthe wdata wto wtransform wit winto wa wmore wuseful wform.
Define wKnowledge win wthe wDIKW wHierarchy. w- wANSWERKnowledge wis wsometimes
wdefined was winformation wthat whas wbeen wput wto wuse. wIn wother wcases, wknowledge wis wa
wsynthesis wof wseveral wdifferent wsources wof winformation. wOne wway wto wthink wof wknowledge
wis wthat wit wis winformation wplaced winto wa wcontext, wperhaps wthe wresult wof wexperience
wgained wfrom wusing winformation. wAdditionally, wwe wmight wthink wof wknowledge was wbeing
wrefined winformation wsuch wthat wthe wuser wof wthe wknowledge wis wable wto wcall wforth wonly
wrelevant wportions wof winformation wwhen wneeded. wAs wan wexample, wone wmay wlearn whow
wto wsolve walgebraic wproblems wby wstudying walgebraic wlaws. wThe wlaws wrepresent
winformation, wwhereas wthe wpractice wof wselecting wthe wproper wlaw wto wapply win wa wgiven
wsituation wis wknowledge.
Define wWisdom win wthe wDIKW wHierarchy. w- wANSWERSome wrefer wto wwisdom was wan
wunderstanding wof w"why"—whether wthis wis w"why wthings whappened wthe wway wthey wdid" wor