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An intranet is a private network that is contained within an
enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the
wide area
network. Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more
gateway computers to the outside Internet. The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences. An intranet uses TCP/IP,
HTTP, and other Internet protocols and in general looks like a private version of the Internet. With
tunneling, companies can send private messages through the public network, using the public network with special encryption/decryption and other security safeguards to connect one part of their intranet to another. Typically, larger enterprises allow users within their intranet to access the public Internet through
firewall servers that have the ability to screen messages in both directions so that company security is maintained. When part of an intranet is made accessible to customers, partners, suppliers, or others outside the company, that part becomes part of an
extranet. - Quoted by Whatis.com -
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