What is the difference between the Internet, intranets, and extranets?

What is the difference between the Internet, intranets, and extranets? Use the Cybrary or other Internet resources to research the difference. Find 2-3 examples of situations where companies use all of these networks. Explain why and how they are used, if possible.

The INTERNET:

The Internet is actually millions of computers connected together in some way (phone lines, Ethernet, ISDN, cable modems) so that they can share information. The Internet is really one big network of computers. All of the things that people think of when they hear about the Internet, such as email the World Wide Web, File Transfer Protocol, etc. are types of information that are shared by computers on the Internet.

INTRANETS:

Intranets are internet-based networks that are within a company, usually a corporation, in order to share and exchange information. It is accessible only by the organization’s members, employees, or others who have authorization.

EXTRANETS:

Extranet is an intranet that is partly accessible to authorized outsiders and it also provides many levels of accessibility. One can only access an extranet only you have a valid user name and password and that determines which part of the extranet you can view. An example of the integration of a company Extranet is EDI. (Electronic Data Interchange)

EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT UTILIZE ALL THREE SCENARIOS:

*Komatsu America International Co – Utilizes the Internet to feature its product lines, provide company news and financial data. The company also utilizes a Cisco based company Intranet for internal data storage and an Extranet primarily for the purposes of EDI.

*US West – Utilizes the Internet to reach its various levels of customers, provide news about products and services and ways to contact the company. The company uses an Intranet for internal communications and an Extranet Hub to allow Intranet access to their various outside consultants, suppliers and contract employees.

*Ford Motor Company – Ford Motor utilizes the Internet to reach its worldwide customer base and deliver information that is relevant to its various brands. The company’s Intranet supports more than 175,000 employees who visit more than 500,000 times a day for anything from checking their benefits to getting the latest competitive information or signing up for company-run training classes. The company extranet allows Ford to deliver information and applications to Ford’s suppliers around the world.

Sources:

http://www.cio.com/research/intranet/

http://www.caenet.com/full_story.php?WID=741

http://www.komatsuamerica.com/index.cfm?resource_id=57

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/rt/5420/profiles/kmtsu_cp.htm

http://www.cio.com/archive/webbusiness/020198_village.html

http://www.verisign.com/corporate/news/1998/uswest.html

http://www.peakcreativemedia.com/extranet_hub/

http://ford.com/en/default.htm

http://www.cio.com/archive/120101/rule_ford.html

http://wp.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease631.html