What is intranet and extranet

Internet is the WAN (Wide area network) whereby computers are interconnected nationally. The definition of an ‘intranet portal’ may have evolved from a simple list of links to something more advance but in effect, an intranet and a portal will be recognized as one and the same. An extranet permits controlled access to authorized external users to a company intranet.

Largest Internetwork in the world is Internet. The terms World Wide Web (WWW) and Internet are not the same. While an intranet connects employees inside an organization, an extranet connects employees to external parties. The important thing to bear in mind is that extranets exist to create a path of communication between your internal staff and external organisations, whether they be customers, suppliers, or business partners.

This network system is basically used for business to business (B2B) purposes. Successful organizations choose to use an intranet. And there is a reason for that. With the increasing number of applications and providers use it is important for employees to be able to easily keep track of. An extranet enables your business to communicate and collaborate more effectively with selected business partners, suppliers and customers.

An extranet can play an important role in improving business relationships and supply chain management. This guide looks at the potential benefits of intranet and the benefits of extranet to your business. Techopedia explains Extranet. Intranets offer a tons of benefits.

An extranet may be viewed as an intranet mapped onto the public Internet or onto some other private network. Advantages of extranets include: The ability to exchange large volumes of data using electronic data interchange. Sharing product data or catalogs with business partners. When a segment of an intranet is made accessible to customers, partners, suppliers, or others outside the company, that segment becomes part of an extranet.

The firewall is especially important for intranet networks that include extranet extensions. The intranet generally looks like a private version of the Internet. It is managed on a contractual basis between organizations and is a tool for sharing information between the internal members and external members. Extranet is owned by either a single or a many organization.

Like intranet , it is also a private network so only those who have a valid username and password can use the extranet. Words like ‘ intranet ’ and ‘extranet ’ are often banded around offices nowadays as if they are commonplace. Rarely is the difference between the two explained and can therefore cause much confusion to staff as it can be quite difficult to explain the differences. Unlike the Internet, an internal intranet provides a wide range of information and services to employees of an organization but these tools and information are unavailable to the public.

An intranet is a private network accessible only to an organization’s staff. Most importantly, however, an intranet is , as the name suggests, a system which is accessed internally. Ultimately, an intranet is a secure and private online portal for your employees, and will be situated within your business framework to allow your staff to connect, communicate, and collaborate. Typically, organizations will use an extranet for gaining efficiencies and adding value to customer and supplier relationships. To boil things down regarding intranet vs extranet , an intranet is just for your internal people to use, whereas an extranet is for your people to use, as well as external people.

Like an intranet , an extranet is also a closed private network, but the difference is that access is allowed to selected parties external to your business such as customers, clients or suppliers. An extranet is an extension of an intranet which uses the same techniques as the internet.