The internet is a worldwide computer network that transmits a variety of data and media across interconnected devices. It works by using a packet routing network that follows Internet Protocol (IP) and Transport Control Protocol (TCP)

Internet is a global network that connects billions of computers across the world with each other and to the World Wide Web. It uses a standard internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to connect billions of computer users worldwide. It is set up by using cables such as optical fibers and other wireless and networking technologies. At present, the internet is the fastest mean of sending or exchanging information and data between computers across the world.

It is believed that the internet was developed by “The Defense Advanced Projects Agency” (DARPA) department of the United States. And, it was first connected in 1969.

Why is the Internet Called a Network?

Internet is called a network as it creates a network by connecting computers and servers across the world using routers, switches and telephone lines, and other communication devices and channels. So, it can be considered a global network of physical cables such as copper telephone wires, fiber optic cables, tv cables, etc. Furthermore, even wireless connections like 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi make use of these cables to access the Internet.

The Internet is different from the World Wide Web as the World Wide Web is a network of computers and servers created by connecting them through the internet. So, the internet is the backbone of the web as it provides the technical infrastructure to establish the WWW and acts as a medium to transmit information from one computer to another computer. It uses web browsers to display the information on the client, which it fetches from web servers

The internet is not owned by a single person or organization entirely. It is a concept based on physical infrastructure that connects networks with other networks to create a global network of billions of computers. As of 12 August 2016, there were more than 300 crores of internet users across the world.

How does the internetwork?

Before understanding this let us understand some basics related to the internet:

The internet works with the help of clients and servers. A device such as a laptop, which is connected to the internet is called a client, not a server as it is not directly connected to the internet. However, it is indirectly connected to the internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and is identified by an IP address, which is a string of numbers. Just like you have an address for your home that uniquely identifies your home, an IP address acts as the shipping address of your device. The IP address is provided by your ISP, and you can see what IP address your ISP has given to your system.

A server is a large computer that stores websites. It also has an IP address. A place where a large number of servers are stored is called a data center. The server accepts requests sent by the client through a browser over a network (internet) and responds accordingly.

To access the internet we need a domain name, which represents an IP address number, i.e., each IP address has been assigned a domain name. For example, youtube.com, facebook.com, and paypal.com are used to represent the IP addresses. Domain names are created as it is difficult for a person to remember a long string of numbers. However, the internet does not understand the domain name, it understands the IP address, so when you enter the domain name in the browser search bar, the internet has to get the IP addresses of this domain name from a huge phone book, which is known as DNS

For example, if you have a person’s name, you can find his phone number in a phone book by searching his name. The internet uses the DNS server in the same way to find the IP address of the domain name. DNS servers are managed by ISPs or similar organizations.

Now after understanding the basics, let us see how the internet works?

When you turn on your computer and type a domain name in the browser search bar, your browser sends a request to the DNS server to get the corresponding IP address. After getting the IP address, the browser forwards the request to the respective server.

Once the server gets the request to provide information about a particular website, the data starts flowing. The data is transferred through the optical fiber cables in digital format or the form of light pulses. As the servers are placed at distant places, the data may have to travel thousands of miles through optical fiber cable to reach your computer.

The optical fiber is connected to a router, which converts the light signals into electrical signals. These electrical signals are transmitted to your laptop using an Ethernet cable. Thus, you receive the desired information through the internet, which is a cable that connects you with the server.

Furthermore, if you are using wireless internet using wifi or mobile data, the signals from the optical cable are first sent to a cell tower and from where it reaches your cell phone in the form of electromagnetic waves.

The internet is managed by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) located in the USA. It manages IP addresses assignment, domain

The data transfer is very fast on the internet. The moment you press enter you get the information from a server located thousands of miles away from you. The reason for this speed is that the data is sent in the binary form (0, 1), and these zeros and ones are divided into small pieces called packets, which can be sent at high speed.

Advantages of the Internet:

• Instant Messaging: You can send messages or communicate to anyone using the internet, such as email, voice chat, video conferencing, etc.
• Get directions: Using GPS technology, you can get directions to almost every place in a city, country, etc. You can find restaurants, malls, or any other service near your location.
• Online Shopping: It allows you to shop online such as you can be clothes, shoes, book movie tickets, railway tickets, flight tickets, and more.
• Pay Bills: You can pay your bills online, such as electricity bills, gas bills, college fees, etc.
• Online Banking: It allows you to use internet banking in which you can check your balance, receive or transfer money, get a statement, request a checkbook, etc.
• Online Selling: You can sell your products or services online. It helps you reach more customers and thus increases your sales and profit.
• Work from Home: In case you need to work from home, you can do it using a system with internet access. Today, many companies allow their employees to work from home.
• Entertainment: You can listen to online music, watch videos or movies, and play online games.
• Cloud computing: It enables you to connect your computers and internet-enabled devices to cloud services such as cloud storage, cloud computing, etc.
• Career building: You can search for jobs online on different job portals and send your CV through email if required.

Intranet

The intranet is a private network that belongs to a particular organization. It is designed for the exclusive use of an organization and its associates, such as employees, customers, and other authorized people. It offers a secure platform to convey information and share data with authorized users. Confidential information, database, links, forms, and applications can be made available to the staff through the intranet. So, it is like a private internet or an internal website that is operating within an organization to provide its employees access to its information and records. Each computer in the intranet is identified by a unique IP Address.

It is based on internet protocols (TCP/IP) and is protected from unauthorized access with firewalls and other security systems. The firewall monitors the incoming and outgoing data packets to ensure they don’t contain unauthorized requests. So, users on the intranet can access the internet, but internet users can’t access the intranet if they are not authorized for it. Furthermore, to access the intranet, the authorized user is required to be connected to its LAN (Local Area Network).

Some of the benefits of the intranet are:

• It is cheap and easy to implement and run and is safer than the internet and extranet
• It streamlines communication that enables the company to share its data, information, and other resources among employees without any delay. The entire staff can receive the company’s announcements, ask questions, and access internal documents.
• It provides a secure space to store and develop applications to support business operations.
• It improves the efficiency of the company by speeding up workflow and reducing errors. Thus, it helps achieve targets by completing the tasks on time.
• It offers a testing platform for new ideas before they are uploaded on the company’s internet webpage. Thus, it helps maintain the credibility of the company
• Information is shared in real-time, or updates are reflected immediately to all the authorized users.
• Modern intranets also offer a mobile app that allows employees to stay connected on the go.
• It aids in project management and tracking workflow and teams’ progress.
• It can work with mobile devices, which means it can provide information that exists on the intranet directly to mobile devices of employees such as phones, tablets, etc.
• It can also be used to motivate employees, facilitate employee recognition, and reward them for performing beyond expectations.

How the Intranet Works:

Intranet comprises three components: a web server, an intranet platform, and applications. The web server is hardware that contains all the intranet software and data. It manages all requests for files hosted over the server and finds the requested files and then delivers them to the user’s computer. The intranet platform, which is software, allows communication tools, collaboration apps, and databases to work seamlessly with each other. It is tailored to the specific needs of a business.

The applications are required to enable users to work smoothly. They are the computing tools that allow users to do their work, communicate, coordinate with each other and retrieve and store information.

Furthermore, the user who wants to access the intranet is required to have a special network password and should be connected to the LAN. A user who is working remotely can gain access to the intranet through a virtual private network (VPN) that allows them to sign in to the intranet to access the information.

Disadvantages of Intranet:

• It may be costly to set up an Intranet due to hidden costs and complexity.
• If the firewall does not work properly or is not installed, it can be hacked by someone
• High-security passwords are required, which cannot be guessed by outside users
• There is always a fear of losing control over the intranet
• Sometimes document duplication may happen which can cause confusion among employees
• You have to give access to multiple users, so you may find it hard to control this network.

Examples of Intranet:

Educational Intranet: It is generally found in a school, college, etc., For example, a school intranet is intended to allow teaching staff to communicate with each other and get information about upcoming updates such as exam dates, school functions, holidays, etc.

Real Estate Intranet: The intranet of a real estate company allows its sales team to have access to all important brochures, templates, and forms that they may need to close a sale. Employees also remain up to date with important events like meetings, training, sessions, etc. It can also be used to share motivational messages with the team.

Health Care Intranet: In the healthcare sector, in big hospitals, the Intranet helps healthcare professionals to work as a team to provide proper care and treatment to their patients. Doctors can share reports, treatment procedures, bills and claims can be settled easily without moving from one department to another department.

IT Sector Intranet: In the IT sector, three is always a lot of information that needs to be shared with all the employees in one go. It may be related to a project that needs to be completed within the given time frame, such as guidelines, terms and conditions, and rules that are to be followed while working on a project.

Difference between Intranet and Internet:

Internet	Intranet
It is a medium such as optical fiber cable that connects billions of computers to establish a worldwide network.	It is a small, private network as it belongs to a specific organization.
It has billions of users as it is a public network with a worldwide presence.	It has limited users.
It is not as safe as an intranet.	It is a safer network than the internet.
It can be assessed or used by anyone using an internet-enabled device, such as laptops, mobile phones, etc.	Only authorized persons can use this network.
It offers a wide range of information, such as news, blogs, websites, etc.	It offers limited information related to its organization’s work, policies, updates, etc.
It is not owned by a single person or an organization.	It can be owned by a person or an organization.

Extranet

An extranet is a part of an organization’s intranet. It is a communication network that is based on internet protocols (TCP/IP). It provides controlled access to the firm’s intranet to its trading partners, customers, and other businesses. So, it is a private network that securely shares internal information and operations of a firm with authorized people outside the firm without giving access to the company’s entire network. The users are required to have IDs, passwords, and other authentication mechanisms to access this network.

Some of the benefits of extranet

• It acts as a single interface between the company and its trading partners.
• It automates the firm’s processes like automatically placing an order with suppliers when inventory drops.
• It improves customer service by providing customers with a platform to resolve their queries and complaints.
• It enables the firm to share information with trading partners without engaging in paper-based publishing processes.
• It streamlines repetitive business processes, such as ordering from a vendor regularly.

How is Extranet Established?

It is set up in the form of a Virtual Private Network as it is prone to security threats due to the use of the internet to connect outsiders to an organization’s intranet. VPN can assure you a safe network in a public network such as the internet. The transmission control protocol (TCP) and internet protocol (IP) are used for the data transfer.

VPN assures secure transactions based on Internet Protocol Security Architecture (IPsec) protocol as it provides an extra security layer to TCP/IP protocol, which is used for data transfer in the extranet. In this layer, the IP packet is encapsulated to form a new IP packet, as shown below:

Furthermore, to provide more security to Intranet, the following two measures are also taken by an organization

• Firewall: It prevents unauthorized users from accessing the extranet.
• Passwords: It also prevents unauthorized users, including the company’s employees from accessing the data stored on its server.

Limitations of Extranet

• Hosting: If you host extranet pages on your server, it requires a high bandwidth internet connection, which may be very expensive.
• Security: You need extra firewall security if you host it on your server. It increases the workload and makes the security mechanism very complex.
• Dependency: It is dependent on the internet as outsiders cannot access information without using the internet.
• Less Interaction: It reduces the face-to-face interaction between customers, business partners, vendors, etc., which results in poor relationship building.

Difference between Intranet and Extranet:

Intranet	Extranet
It is a private network, which cannot be accessed externally.	It may not be called a private network, as it can be assessed externally. It provides limited access to authorized outside users such as vendors, partners, etc.
It connects the employees of the company.	It connects the company’s employees with partners.
It is an independent network, not a part or extension of any other network.	It is an additional part of the company’s Intranet.
Communication takes place only within the organization that owns the network.	External users such as suppliers, customers, and partners are allowed to be a part of the intranet to get information, and updates, about the organization.

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