IT Fundamentals: All About Data
Data and information concepts. From bits and bytes to SAN, NAS and data science.
What you will learn
Learn how all digital information is encoded using just 1s and 0s.
Understand the basics of data compression and why these techniques are critical to the ways we store and use data.
Discover the five characteristics of server, storage and networking systems used in datacentres.
Understand the main technologies used to store data including types of hard disk drives (HDD) and solid state drive (SSD).
Describe enterprise storage technologies including RAID, SAN, NAS, Unified, Hyperconverged and Object.
Learn how data can be used to underpin decision making including the three types of analytics.
Gain clarity about the capabilities of data science and advanced analytic techniques.
Description
We all live in an information economy and data, alledgedly, is the new oil. But how is it that ones and zeros, which are all computers have to work with, can represent everything from numbers through to your favourite films or the music for your "first dance"? How is so much data stored in datacentres (or the cloud)? How is all this data protected? And how can we put it to use to improve our decision making?
All these questions and many more, are answered in this course.
You may be thinking of starting a career in IT, or maybe you are already there but want to branch out. Or possibly, you just have a passing interest in technology and want to know more. This course has you covered.
Based on over 25 years working in the IT industry, and many of those spent teaching upcoming IT professionals, this course has beginners and more advanced practitioners in mind. The content is explained in plain language whilst covering some fairly complex topics. Rather than just sticking to an academic curriculum aligned to a specific exam, the approach is to take a more practical stance and share perspectives of someone who has been working in the industry for many years. I have also kept the scope of this course quite narrow. It is centred on data, what it is, how it is stored within datacentres and how it is used.
If you are thinking of pursuing exams, for example those offered by CompTIA, this course will get you started. It explains some key concepts, but is not restrained by the scope of any particular exam.
If you want to know more about the style of the course, feel free to take the taster modules. You can also see more of my work on my YouTube Channel - simply search for 2DeCipher. Here are some viewer comments:
"This is by far the most clear explanation I have been provided with ever. Thank you!"
"This is one of the best videos explaining hyperconvergence!"
"Wow, so clarifying. Thanks a lot."
"Damn well explained! Awesome!"
So what's covered in this course? Here is the breakdown:
Section 1: The basics of digital data
Working with binary and Hex
Digitization - Encoding
Analogue to Digital Conversion - Audio and Sensors
Analogue to Digital Conversion - Pictures and Video
Lossless Data Compression + File Formats
Lossy Data Compression
Data Streaming
Section 2: Data storage technologies
Storage Drive Types
SPAMS - Characteristics of Datacentre Systems
Redundancy
Data Protection
Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
RAID 0 - Striping
RAID 5 - Striping + Parity
Hardware RAID
Section 3: Shared (Networked) Storage Systems
Network Attached Storage (NAS)
Storage Area Network (SAN) + Unified Storage
Let's Design a Unified Storage System
Scale-Up versus Scale-Out
Object Storage
Hyper Converged
Section 4: Using Data: Analytics and Data Science
What is data analytics - Part 1
Data analytics Part 2 - False Insights
Data Analytics Part 3 - Data Integration
Predicting the future and other data science tricks
What is Data Science?
There is so much more I could add whilst still maintaining focus on data but I wanted to get this out there. The great news is that once you are enrolled, you will get access to any future content. I am also open to feedback and ideas, so just let me know what you would like to see.