Last time, I gave the scope of my articles. Today I am doing what most people do at the end of any lengthy discussion. I am going to summarize the advantages and uses of having an intranet for your organization. So you may ask why do this at the start. This is because I want to convince you right at the start that you indeed require an intranet if you have the need for the mentioned activities.
A Global View of an Intranet
As I have mentioned earlier, an intranet is a network that uses the Internet's TCP/IP protocols for its underlying transport. The protocols can run on a variety of network hardware, and can also co-exist with other network protocols, such as IPX. People from inside an intranet can get at the larger Internet resources, but those on the Internet cannot get into the intranet, which allows only restricted access from the Internet.
* Videoconferencing is an important application that requires sending massive quantities of data. Intranets can be built using components that allow the extremely high bandwidths required for transferring such information.
* Often an intranet is composed of a number of different networks inside a corporation that all communicate with one another via TCP/IP. These separate networks are often referred to as subnets.
* Software that allows people to communicate with each other via e-mail and public message boards and to collaborate on work using workgroup software is among the most powerful intranet programs. Applications that allow different corporate departments to post information, and for people to fill out corporate forms, such as time sheets, and for tapping into corporate financial information are very popular.
* Much of the software used on intranets is standard, off-the-shelf Internet software such as the Netscape Navigator and the Microsoft Explorer Web browsers. And customized programs are often built, using the Java programming language and CGI scripting.
* Intranets can also be used to allow companies to do business-to-business transactions, such as ordering parts, sending invoices, and making payments. For extra security, these intranet-to-intranet transactions need never go out over the public Internet, but can travel over private leased lines instead.
* Intranets are a powerful system for allowing a company to do business online, for example, to allow anyone on the Internet to order products. When someone orders a product on the Internet, information is sent in a secure manner from the public Internet to the company's intranet, where the order
