Module 6: Enterprise IT Fundamentals

Where does your organization's data physically live, and why does it matter?

Software talks about data like it is weightless. Hardware does not. Storage architecture, server topology, network design, and data center physics all impose constraints that the application layer cannot wish away. This module gives non-engineering executives the fundamentals of how enterprise IT actually works at the physical and architectural layer, without burying them in jargon.

What you'll learn in this module

• Storage types (block, file, object, archive) and what each is for, plus the cost and latency consequences of each
• Server architecture: bare metal, virtualization, containerization, and serverless, and where each fits in a real operating environment
• Networking inside the data center and between data centers, including the latency and bandwidth realities that constrain application design
• Disaster recovery and business continuity: RTO, RPO, backup architectures, and the failure modes that real organizations actually hit
• Capacity planning and the operating discipline that prevents the surprises that take systems down at end-of-quarter peak

The full module is the bridge between abstract software architecture and the physical reality that shapes cost, performance, and reliability for every IT decision an executive will sign.