Intranet
An Intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise.
It is a private computer network that uses Internet protocols and network connectivity to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with its employees. Sometimes the term refers only to the most visible service, the internal website.
The same concepts and technologies of the Internet such as clients and servers running on the Internet protocol suite are used to build an intranet. HTTP and other Internet protocols are commonly used as well, such as FTP.
Briefly, an intranet can be understood as "aprivate version of the Internet," or as a version of the Internet confined to an organization.
The term first appeared in print on April 19, 1995, in Digital News & Review in an article authored by technical editor Stephen Lawton.
It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area network.
Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet.
The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees.
An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.
An intranet uses TCP/IP, HTTP, and other Internet protocols and in general looks like a private version of the Internet. With tunneling, companies can send private messages through the public network, using the public network with special encryption/decryption and other security safeguards to connect one part of their intranet to another.
Typically, larger enterprises allow users within their intranet to access the public Internet through firewall servers that have the ability to screen messages in both directions so that company security is maintained.
When part of an intranet is made accessible to customers, partners, suppliers, or others outside the company, that part becomes part of an extranet.
Advantages of Intranets
• Workforce productivity: Intranets can help users to locate and view information faster and use applications relevant to their roles and responsibilities. With the help of a web browser interface, users can access data held in any database the organization wants to make available, anytime and - subject to security provisions - from anywhere within the company workstations, increasing employees' ability to perform their jobs faster, more accurately, and with confidence that they have the right information. It also helps to improve the services provided to the users.
• Time: With intranets, organizations can make more information available to employees on a "pull" basis (i.e. employees can link to relevant information at a time which suits them) rather than being deluged indiscriminately by emails.
• Communication: Intranets can serve as powerful tools for communication within an organization, vertically and horizontally. From a communications standpoint, intranets are useful to communicate strategic initiatives that have a global reach throughout the organization. The type of information that can easily be conveyed is the purpose of the initiative and what the initiative is aiming to achieve, who is driving the initiative, results achieved to date, and who to speak to for more information. By providing this information Business operations and management: on the intranet, staff have the opportunity to keep upto-date with the strategic focus of the organization.
• Web publishing allows 'cumbersome' corporate knowledge to be maintained and easily accessed throughout the company using hypermedia and Web technologies. Examples include: employee manuals, benefits documents, company policies, business standards, news feeds, and even training, can be accessed using common Internet standards (Acrobat files, Flash files, CGI applications). Because each business unit can update the online copy of a document, the most recent version is always available to employees using the intranet. Intranets are also being used as a platform for developing and deploying applications to support business operations and decisions across the inter-networked enterprise.
• Cost-effective: Users can view information and data via web-browser rather than maintaining physical documents such as procedure manuals, internal phone list and requisition forms.
Promote common corporate culture: Every user is viewing the same information within the Intranet.
• Enhance Collaboration: With information easily accessible by all authorized users, teamwork is enabled.
• Cross-platform Capability: Standards-compliant web browsers are available for Windows, Mac, and UNIX.
Extranet
Intranets differ from "Extranets" in that the former are generally restricted to employees of the organization while extranets can generally be accessed by customers, suppliers, or other approved parties.
An extranet is a private network that uses Internet protocols, network connectivity, and possibly the public telecommunication system to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers or other businesses.
An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's Intranet that is extended to users outside the company (e.g.: normally over the Internet).
It has also been described as a "state of mind" in which the Internet is perceived as a way to do business with a pre-approved set of other companies business-to-business (B2B), in isolation from all other Internet users. In contrast, business-to-consumer (B2C) involves known server(s) of one or more companies, communicating with previously unknown consumer users.
An extranet requires security and privacy. These can include firewalls, server management, the issuance and use of digital certificates or similar means of user authentication, encryption of messages, and the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) that tunnel through the public network.
Advantages of Extranet
• Exchange large volumes of data using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
• Share product catalogs exclusively with wholesalers or those "in the trade"
• Collaborate with other companies on joint development efforts
• Jointly develop and use training programs with other companies
• Provide or access services provided by one company to a group of other companies, such as an online banking application managed by one company on behalf of affiliated banks
• Share news of common interest exclusively
Disadvantages of Extranet
• Extranets can be expensive to implement and maintain within an organization (e.g.:
hardware, software, employee training costs) — if hosted internally instead of via an ASP
.
• Security of extranets can be a big concern when dealing with valuable information. System access needs to be carefully controlled to avoid sensitive information falling into the wrong hands.
• Extranets can reduce personal contact (face-to-face meetings) with customers and business partners. This could cause a lack of connections made between people and a company, which hurts the business when it comes to loyalty of its business partners and customers.
Differences between Internet, Intranet and Extranet
| Criteria | Internet | Intranet | Extranet |
| Accessibility | Publicly Accessible World-Wide | A private network that is contained within an enterprise. | A private network that shares part of an organization's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers or other businesses. |
| Privacy | Limited Privacy | No privacy | Provides privacy. |
| Simplicity | Very Complex | Requires only a network cable | Complex requiring Servers/Routers/Switches |
| Ease of Set-up | Not Applicable | Very easy to setup | Difficult to set up |
| Cost | Not Applicable | Inexpensive-Cheap | Expensive |
| Security | Limited | Minimal security | Security maintained |
| Maintenance | Not Applicable | Easy to Maintain | Require a staff to ensure efficient operation. |
| Size | Global | Small in scope | Larger in scope |
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