Explain IT Like I’m 5

Looking for easy ways to explain IT to anyone (even a five-year-old)? Then this is the book for you!

Complex IT ideas described simply. Very simply. The SolarWinds Explain (IT) Like I’m 5 (ELI5) eBook is for people interested in things like networks, servers, applications, the cloud, and how monitoring all that stuff (and more) gets done—all in an easy-to-understand format.

(contributed by Joe Reves, Product Manager)

Computers talk to each other all the time. They use special computers to help them talk. Those special computers watch the computer-talk and can send us a message to show us the computer-talk. These messages do not tell us what the computers are saying to each other, but they do tell us which computers are talking, how much they are talking, how often, when they talk, and the way they talk to each other. We can use all these messages about the computer-talk to show what we need to make sure our computers can talk to each other without problems. We can tell when some computers are talking too much, or too often. We can also tell if we have big enough paths between our computers, and if those are working well. (contributed by Ed Saenz, Sales Engineer)

When you want a new toy, where do you go? Your dad or mom takes you to the toy store! It’s always an adventure. But we want to get our toys quick, so we can play with them. It’s a good thing they don’t have everything all over the place, otherwise it would take forever to find what you want. The toy store has everything sorted in sections and rows and shelves. So, if I want a Barbie, I can go to the doll section, and the Barbie shelves. Databases are a technology to hold a lot of information. And it’s good that databases are the same way with information as toy stores are with toys. This allows grown-ups to find the data they need in a fast, quick, and orderly fashion. That way we can pay bills and do other things easily, like maybe even buy toys online