The Seven Domains of a Typical IT Infrastructure

What role do the three tenets of systems security play in a typical IT infrastructure? First, let’s review what a typical IT infrastructure looks like. Whether in a small business, large government body, or publicly traded corporation, most IT infrastructures consist of the seven domains shown in FIGURE 1-9: User, Workstation, LAN, LAN-to-WAN, WAN, Remote Access, and System/Application Domains.

The seven domains in a typical I T infrastructure are the following. User Domain. Workstation Domain. LAN Domain. LAN-to-WAN Domain. WAN Domain. System or Application Domain. Remote Access Domain. A user domain consists of computer users. They utilize computers that are in the workstation domain. The computers are connected to a switch that is also connected to a server. The switch and the server computer are part of the LAN domain. The switch is connected to a router which is further connected to a firewall. The router and firewall are a part of the LAN-to-WAN domain. The firewall is connected to another firewall or router. The domain between the firewall and the firewall or router is called the WAN domain. The firewall or router is further connected to a mainframe, an application or web server and a cloud environment. The firewall or router, mainframe, application or web server, and the cloud environment are a part of the system or application domain. A user on a computer may access the LAN-to-WAN domain by connecting to the router using broadband Internet. This forms the remote access domain.

FIGURE 1-9 The seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure

Each domain requires proper security controls, which must meet the requirements of the C-I-A triad. Following is an overview of the seven domains ...

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