What Is the Difference Between Intranet and Extranet

What is the Difference between Intranet and Extranet? Intranets and extranets are network systems that are used to maximize business productivity. In this case the intranet would be the macro-system and the extranet would be the micro-system. When I think about intranet I think of a business’s personal World Wide Web; although it is not the internet it still has more resources and capabilities than the extranet. One way to look at it is to think on a scale of private and non-private. The intranet is private; it’s like working from home and logging into a company’s VPN only you have access to it. Intranets are usually more secure because they don’t have much connection to the internet. However extranet would be the non-private; it uses the internet as a medium and there is really no control over what other networks connect to it. If you were working for a bank then the network that you use to access the company’s software and tools would be the intranet and is normally protected by a firewall to keep out malicious intruders. On the other hand if you work for an automobile manufacture and you need to log into a venders inventory or website from your company’s website then that extension is considered the extranet. The intranet being a private network within a company and the extranet is its extension for outside users such as vendors and other suppliers. Logically, the network here at Strayer could be considered an intranet system. There are computers networked together on an internal network for the use of education. Thinking about it; maybe the computers that the staff and faculty use would be the intranet because those would be the main computers that house all of Strayer important information about students, staff and faculty. The computers in the labs would be the extranet for us students to use to access Strayer information pertaining to class schedules, grades, curriculums and assignments.

The extranet would be a great asset for B2B contacts and sales;