My Books

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I have published two books:

• Digital Sovereignty in Europe - Architecture and Strategies for Technological Independence
• Infrastructure Architecture - Infrastructure Building Blocks and Concepts

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Digital Sovereignty in Europe - Architecture and Strategies for Technological Independence

 

Abstract

The internet was built on the promise of a borderless world. That promise is fading.

Today, political tensions, extraterritorial legislation, dependence on a handful of global technology providers, and fragile supply chains are reshaping the digital landscape. Digital sovereignty has become a practical challenge for governments, organizations, and the architects who design their digital infrastructure.

Digital Sovereignty in Europe bridges the gap between policy and technology. It explains why Europe's ability to control its own digital infrastructure, data, and critical technologies has become a strategic priority, and shows how these ambitions can be translated into practical architectural decisions.

Drawing on real technologies and implementation strategies, the book explores topics including cloud infrastructure, open-source virtualization, European cloud providers, cybersecurity, secure collaboration platforms, procurement frameworks, and the legal and geopolitical forces shaping today's digital world.

Whether you are an architect, technology leader, policymaker, student, or cybersecurity professional, this book provides both the strategic context and the practical guidance needed to design resilient digital infrastructures for an increasingly fragmented world.

Digital sovereignty is not achieved through declarations or strategy papers. It is built - one architectural decision at a time.

 

Preview

Download the Table of Contents.

 

This is an upcoming book, expected in Fall 2026.

 

How to order

Paperback (242 pages) - ISBN <Tbd>

• On Amazon the book can be ordered here. 

Hardcover (242 pages) - ISBN <Tbd>

• On Amazon the book can be ordered here. 

eBook - ISBN 978-1-4477-8093-9

• From Amazon.com the book can be ordered as a Kindle ebook.

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Infrastructure Architecture - Infrastructure Building Blocks and Concepts

 

Abstract

IT infrastructure has been the foundation for successful application deployments for many decades. However, general and up-to-date infrastructure knowledge is not widespread. Experience shows that software developers, system administrators, and project managers often have little understanding of the major impact that IT infrastructure has on the performance, availability, and security of software applications.

This book explains the concepts, history, and implementation of IT infrastructure. Although there are many books on each of the infrastructure building blocks, this is the first book to describe them all: datacenters, servers, networks, storage, operating systems, and end-user devices.

The building blocks described in this book provide functionality, but they also provide the non-functional attributes of performance, availability, and security. These attributes are discussed at a conceptual level in separate chapters and in more detail in the chapters on each building block.

Whether you need an introduction to infrastructure technologies, a refresher course, or a study guide for a computer science class, you will find that the building blocks and concepts presented provide a solid foundation for understanding the complexities of today's IT infrastructures.

This book can be used as a course book - it is used by a number of universities worldwide as part of their IT courses based on the IS 2020.3 curriculum.

 

Preview

Download the Table of Contents.

A preview of the book can be downloaded here.

 

How to order

Paperback (480 pages) - ISBN 978-1-4477-8560-6

• From my publisher Lulu.com the book can be ordered here.
• On Amazon the book can be ordered here. 

eBook - ISBN 978-1-4477-8093-9

• From Amazon.com the book can be ordered as a Kindle ebook.
• From the Apple bookstore (for Mac or iOS devices, like the iPad) - search for Sjaak Laan in the Books app on your device.
• The ebook is also available on the Kobo bookstore.

 

Course Material 

The book is used in a number of universities in the USA, Australia, Chile, and Kuwait, as study material for their IT infrastructure courses. The book is especially suited for courses based on the IS 2020.3 curriculum. A reference matrix of the IS 2020.3 curriculum topics (as used in many universities in the USA) and the relevant sections in this book is provided in the appendix.

Based on requests from university professors, I created a set of course materials. It contains all pictures used in the book in both Visio and high-resolution PNG format, the list of abbreviations, a PowerPoint slide deck for each chapter (> 700 slides in total), and a set of test questions per chapter (> 200 questions in total). 

The course materials can be downloaded here.

Please read the course setup in the Excel sheet "Course setup".

There is a set of multiple choice questions available for professors / lecturers. Please contact the author (sjaak.laan@gmail.com) with your name, position and university name to request a copy. 

This entry was posted on Monday 03 April 2023