One of the reasons for offering a second edition of this book is to accommodate the many requests I received from university professors to make the first edition more academia-friendly. While this was not the only factor—others are cited in the Introduction—in deciding to put forth the effort of a second version, it was a primary one.

In light of this, I would like to thank several of the professors whose suggestions and encouragement helped to bring this second edition into existence.

First, there is Professor Les Labuschagne, who heads up the School of Computing at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, South Africa. This is the largest distance-education university in all of Africa. Prof. Labuschagne was among the earliest to use the first edition in a classroom setting. He developed courses around each edition of the book and offered several helpful recommendations for the second edition. Prof. Labuschagne also invited me to Johannesburg as the keynote speaker at the international conference on Information Security of South Africa (ISSA). This afforded me the opportunity to solicit input from a host of highly regarded international experts on IT infrastructures.

Second, there is Professor Robert Chow, who is currently an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University and the University of San Francisco in San Francisco, California. He is also a faculty member teaching online courses at the University of Phoenix. Professor Chow used both the first edition and a draft of the second edition to structure an effective classroom experience for his students at Golden Gate University. He uses his many years of experience working in the IT and communications industries to supplement his lectures with practical examples and he offered several valuable suggestions for the second edition.

Next, there is Dr. Carl Marnewick, who heads up the Department of Business Information Technology for the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He offered helpful opinions about the second edition, particularly how questions and answers could be presented.

Others include Professor Karl Schwarzenegger, who heads up the Computing Department of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cobleskill. He met with me to discuss how he would be using the book in a computer curriculum course he was developing. Professor David Reavis, of Texas A&M University at Texarkana, also developed a course around the first edition of this book and conferred with me about its use. The University of Calgary offered a course using the initial version of this book under the sponsorship of Professor Dave Albers, who provided useful feedback about it.

Professor Gary Richardson of the University of Houston requested use of several excerpts from the first edition for papers he was working on and, in the process, he offered several helpful comments. And at the University of Northern Iowa, Professor Rex Karsten developed an undergraduate course around the first edition. He also provided critiques of some of the classroom material I was developing at the time. To all of these professors I extend my heartfelt thanks for their interest in this second edition and their support of my efforts.

In addition to the eight universities previously named, there are at least two others that developed IT courses around the first edition of this book. These schools are the Swiss Management Center in Zurich, Switzerland, and the Open University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China. There are also several universities which keep copies of the first edition in their science and engineering libraries as recommended reading. These include Virginia Tech, the University of Texas at Austin, Southern Methodist University, North Carolina State University, and the Catholic University of Melbourne, Australia. To each of these schools I express my appreciation for their interest in the use of the first edition of this book.

I would also like to thank several key members of the team associated with Prentice Hall. Their diligent work made this second edition possible. Development editor Songlin Qiu and production copy editor Jeff Riley each offered dozens of helpful and insightful suggestions. Project manager Mandie Frank and editorial assistant Michelle Housley both used their organization skills to maximum benefit. And bringing all the efforts together was acquisitions editor Greg Doench.

After the first edition arrived, there were dozens of reviews posted on major bookseller websites such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Safari. Although the majority of these reviews were positive, several offered constructive criticisms and valuable suggestions for improvement. Many of these suggestions, such as making the assessment worksheets available electronically, were applied to this version. I want to express my appreciation to all of the numerous online reviewers who provided practical and useful feedback. I also want to thank the thousands of IT professionals, managers, project leads, engineers, technicians, and those just entering the field of IT infrastructures whose support of the first edition helped to make it a best seller.

While some of the material in this second edition is new and much of it is changed, much of it is not, and for this reason I would again like to acknowledge all of those individuals who contributed to the success of the first edition. The easiest way I know of to do this is simply to repeat the recognitions I made in the first edition. The following are those initial acknowledgements.

This book covers a wide variety of technical topics and could not have been completed without the capable assistance of several talented colleagues and friends. First and foremost, I want to thank Harris Kern for his unwavering support, suggestions, and encouragement. I appreciate his patience and perseverance, which helped make this book a reality.

I am grateful to my colleague Joerg Hallbauer for his technical expertise and keen insight into a variety of topics. He was particularly helpful with the chapter on capacity planning. Next, I want to thank my long-time associate, Jim Adzema. His knowledge of process improvements and efficiencies were valuable offerings, especially in the area of problem management.

Fred Middleton is another long-time colleague who graciously extended his expertise and experience in operations management. He especially contributed to the topic of managing the physical environment. Another talented professional with whom I have worked is Ted Gresham who offered suggestions on the training of operations personnel.

Thanks to Natalie Tournat, who offered several contributions in the complicated arena of databases. I am also very grateful to my good friend Marcus Howery for reviewing several parts of this book and for upgrading the image of motorcycle riders everywhere.

A writer is only as good as the proofreaders and editors who can transform vague ideas into coherent sentences. No one I know does this better than my former mentor, Sarah Provost. I am indebted to her for her many suggestions to improve clarity and enhance the manuscript.

Many thanks go to Ruth Frick for her tireless effort and countless enhancements during the editing process. Her keen insight and quick responses to questions were very helpful during the final stages.

Last, but certainly not least, I must acknowledge the many contributions of the love of my life, my wife Ann. She offered support and understanding when I needed it the most. Her dedication and loyalty to my efforts served as a constant inspiration, for which I will always be grateful.