You are here questioning Intranet vs. Extranet. What exactly is the difference? Show
Maybe you’ve just heard the terms “intranet” and “extranet” and want to know more about them. Or you’re an IT tech who’s asked about extranets and intranets daily and would like a learning resource to point interested people to. In either case, we’re here to help explain the difference between intranet and extranet, differentiate what they’re used for, and even offer some strategies for safely setting up and maintaining your external networks. Before we go into all that, let’s understand a little more about the internet. What Exactly Is the Internet?It’s on our computers, phones, refrigerators, and even in some of our medical devices. You’re reading this article on the internet right now! The internet is a global web of interconnected servers, personal computers, and devices that is (relatively) accessible to anyone. However, many people don’t run into intranets or extranets in their daily lives. Or, if they do, they may not realize they’re using them. If you understand how the internet works, figuring out extranet and intranet functions shouldn’t be difficult. What Is an Intranet?An intranet is fundamentally similar to the internet: it’s a connected network of computers. You can share data, messages, and files across multiple platforms on the intranet. The primary purpose of an intranet is for employees and coworkers to communicate quickly and safely. However, the intranet is more secure, exclusive, and local. Only a select group of people inside a business or organization can access an intranet network. Files on the intranet can be accessed and altered by relevant personnel in the company. This creates a solid platform for collaboration between employees while keeping documents off the more extensive internet. Now, most cloud services these days fulfill many of those collaborative functions. But, the safety of your data stored in a third-party server (like the cloud server) will always come with security risks. Examples of Intranet UseIntranets primarily connect coworkers on a restricted network to share resources. HR IntranetHR intranets keep all employee documentation on one closed network. Hiring and termination-related paperwork, insurance forms, PTO forms, and other confidential information can be stored safely and accessed easily. HR and employees might have access to this intranet. For example, companies could empower employees to download, fill out, and turn in their PTO and insurance forms without HR. School IntranetSchool intranets can connect students to teachers or teachers with each other. Students can check assignment dates and instructions, school events, and grades. They can also use the network to turn in essays, papers, and classwork. In addition, allowing students access to a school intranet will foster collaboration on projects, which is crucial for remote students taking online courses. On the other hand, teachers can access the school and district calendars, share teaching resources, turn in reports or attendance sheets, create per-class notebooks and folders, and more. These schools utilize WPg’s Intranet plugins for WordPress. Corporate IntranetCorporate intranets, of course, let coworkers share, access and store files. Work files, images, calendars, videos, spreadsheets, client details, order forms, and budgets are some files shared inside a corporate organization. Storing these on an intranet network allows the company to restrict access to the files based on authority and function. Organizations can also store corporate knowledge resources such as training material, best practices, dress codes, process walkthroughs on an intranet network. These can be read by new employees and expanded on by senior employees. Manufacturing CompaniesManufacturing companies need to manage many parts of their supply chain. Sometimes suppliers or vendors are involved at different stages of the manufacturing process. Through an intranet, the process of sharing information and collaborating with partners is simplified. Real Estate Companies, Accountants, and Law FirmsSuch business setups have a high amount of data transfers between clients and businesses. Since this data needs to be stored safely and documented to be assessed regularly, real estate, accountants, and law firms could benefit from secure, closed networks. How To Set Up an IntranetFirst, you need to determine key factors like:
Once you’ve decided on the basics, you can figure out the rest as you set up the intranet. To do so, you have the following three options:
Designing an intranet will require you to create a local area network first. This involves connecting all devices in your office or organization. The next step requires you to install an intranet server software. Popular server applications include Microsoft IIS, Apache Tomcat, and Oracle WebLogic. You can also choose a web developer or outsource the job of creating your intranet. There’s another option that requires you to code web server software. However, it’s outdated and time-consuming. In this setup method, the server hardware and software are protected by firewall hardware and software, which gate the intranet from the rest of the greater internet. The main drawback of such a setup is the hassle of managing the intranet server. From the installation and configuration to security and updates, you’re required to handle everything yourself. Of course, you can set up an internal IT team or outsource the task, but that’s still going to cost you a lot of money.
Alternatively, you could pay for an online hosting service to host your intranet server. Unlike a company intranet software, a hosting service doesn’t require you to maintain, set up, or update the intranet. Instead, all your company needs to do is pay a subscription fee and gain access to all the features provided by the hosting service. It is cheaper and more cost-effective in the long run for companies with fewer operations and small workforces. It is also an excellent alternative for companies looking to upgrade their in-office processes to support remote work. Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft’s OneDrive have become popular for sharing data in an organization. In contrast, messenger services like Skype for Business and Slack have taken over much of the intra-organizational communication duties.
Building an intranet from scratch is not an option for all companies. It requires a lot of time, usually months, internal IT resources, and a big budget. However, such a setup might be an excellent solution when you’re running a huge organization. It is also ideal when you have specific needs from your internal communications server. Benefits of the Intranet
Drawbacks of the Intranet
What Is an Extranet?Think of the extranet as a hybrid—it combines an intranet’s closed nature with the outside connections of the internet. Essentially, an extranet connects customers, vendors, partners, and suppliers to a business on a separate, private network. It uses the same protocols and connectivity as the normal internet but is only accessible to parties doing business with the organization. An extranet is a secure extension of the internal business processes to selected outsiders. Based on their task, role, function, and purpose, outsiders can access only certain parts of the extranet. For example, if a web page is a public park, an extranet would be a private country club. Examples of Extranet NetworksHealth Care PortalsHealth care portals allow doctors, patients, and health care providers to share extremely private information safely. Patients can make appointments, access health records, and communicate with their doctors through text messages or video conferencing. Schools, Colleges and Educational InstitutionsAlmost all schools, especially colleges, have extranets these days. Teachers can post their syllabi and assignments, which students can access through a private portal. Students can sign up for classes, get their transcripts, and make appointments with counselors from their computers or mobile phones. They can also pay their tuition and parking fees on an extranet network. Retail CompaniesRetail companies often use extranets that their partners and suppliers can connect to. These extranets are usually utilized for ordering inventory, tracking shipping, monitoring logistics, and making other kinds of B2B purchases. Both the hosting company and the partners can call up receipts, manifests, prices, and other data without asking the other party. Franchises often use extranets for similar purposes, with the added benefit of consolidating all training and standard franchise procedures in one place for all franchise locations. Lastly, extranets are great for remote teams trying to communicate and collaborate on projects. How To Set Up an ExtranetExtranets aren’t altogether different from intranets, so setting them up is very similar. You can host it on a local server, the same as an intranet, but the firewall will have to be configured to allow approved users to log in. You can do this either through an approved IP range or through authorized accounts. An IP range firewall will be useful for companies with static users. Another feature to think of when setting up an extranet server is security. You will need to determine the kind of access, confidentiality measures, and collaboration required for your organization. Designing the network with this in mind will help you increase the number of partners who use your network. Just like intranets, there are extranet software solutions — for servers or the cloud — that make them easier to set up. For example, Blink makes extranet software for employee portals, a common extranet function. Kahootz and Workzone also allow you to set up and customize your extranets. Airtable, Quip, Dropbox, and Google Drive (among others) also work well as collaboration platforms. You can use these for sharing files and spreadsheets on the cloud with outsiders and partners. You can even create an extranet through WordPress. Benefits of the Extranet
Drawbacks of the Extranet
Intranet vs. Extranet: Which Is Better?Intranets are better for companies that want:
Extranets are ideal for companies that want:
Final ThoughtsIn the end, intranets and extranets are the same concepts — a private network that only a select few can use. They’re generally for work or business, to some extent, and allow users to communicate, collaborate, and share files and information. Whether you need an intranet or an extranet depends on who will access it — a single group of people in your organization or multiple organizations or parties. Which of the following describes extranet?An extranet is a private network that enterprises use to provide trusted third parties -- such as suppliers, vendors, partners, customers and other businesses -- secure, controlled access to business information or operations.
Which of the following is a private network used by organizations to communicate internally?An intranet is a private network contained within an enterprise that is used to securely share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used for working in groups and teleconferences. Intranets encourage communication within an organization.
Which of the following statement is true of a network management software?Question 150 out of 5 pointsWhich of the following statements is true of network-management software?Answers:SelectedAnswer:c. Network-management software complicates the process of updating files andprograms on computers on the network.
Is an internal network that uses Internet technologies?An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders.
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