The Intranet and Extranet

The Intranet. You are already aware what the Internet is. Accordingly, the internet which is a worldwide system can be accessed by any person or by any organization. Since it is a vast public communication tool, some organizations were willing to maintain their own local network which supports their employees or the members. The Intranets were developed as a solution to the above requirement. However, the intranet also has almost all the services provided by the Internet, but it is a private system. The access of an intranet is restricted to the authorized members or people within the organization such that the authorized members need to log on with a secure password.

 

More comprehensively, intranets are private networks based on Internet Technologies that are located behind an organization‟s firewall. A Firewall is a set of technologies designed to protect a private network from users on a public network. Some intranets provide access to the Internet through a special server called a Proxy Server, designed to cache (to store for quick re-use) frequently requested information to keep that information readily available. This type of proxy server also provides tools for tracking and controlling access to networks.

 

An intranet can cover a LAN where only staff in the same building or region can use it. Or it can run over a WAN where staff (authorized people) from around the world can log in.

 

What Intranets do

 

Intranets usually start by publishing web pages about the organization‟s events, health and safety policies, and staff newsletters. Popular applications follow, such as forms to reclaim expenses or request holidays. All these help eliminate paperwork and speed up workflows of the organization.

 

As more features are added, this intranet can become essential to the operation of an organization. It becomes a portal that provides access to all the things workers need.

 

A typical intranet may provide the services such as E-mail, File transfer, Real time chat, web pages, video and audio streaming services. Each service requires at least one server to provide the service.

 

Advantages of an Intranet

 

· Commercial or confidential data is kept secured within the organization.

· E-mails remain private and may also be encrypted.

· High bandwidth. No connection limits unlike the Internet

 

· Reliable. The organization will have dedicated IT personnel to keep things running smoothly.

 

· Information specificity tailored to the organization or staff‟s needs can be published.

 

The Extranet

We can consider an Extranet as an extension to the Intranets what we described above. Because, the extranets are again private networks that contains information related to the company and accessible only for the members of the company BUT allowed for outside individuals as well who have obtained the authority to access. Therefore, an extranet is partially accessible to authorized outsiders.

 

An extranet can be configured (set up) either using a direct leased line linking all intranets or by using a secured separate link created across the participants as a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The latter method is more cost effective than the firs method.