Intranets and Extranets

When you think of a web site, you generally assume that it is accessible to anyone surfing the Web. However, many companies take advantage of the awesome information sharing and gathering power of web sites to exchange information just within their own business. These special web-based networks are called intranets. They are created and function like ordinary web sites, only they are on computers with special security devices (called firewalls) that prevent the outside world from seeing them. Intranets have
lots of uses, such as sharing human resource information or providing access to inventory databases.
An extranet is like an intranet, only it allows access to select users outside of the company. For instance, a manufacturing company may provide its customers with passwords that allow them to check the status of their orders in the company’s orders database. Of course, the passwords determine which slice of the company’s information is accessible. Sharing information over a network is changing the way many companies do business.