Internet vs Intranet

END USER COMPUTING : MOD 1 & 2 (AEEVY1A)

ASSIGNMENT DATE : 13 APRIL 2011

LECTURER : W . BUTHELEZI

STUDENT NAME STUDENT NUMBER

M.A ANNETTS 209110597J. VICTOR 208058397SDV. DE JESUS 209111224M. FIANDEIRA 20254652J. FERREIRA 209115825

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Internet vs Intranet

Contents1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

2. What is internet...............................................................................................................................4

3. What is intranet...............................................................................................................................5

4. Aspects and their differences......................................................................................................6

5. Advantages and Disadvantages.................................................................................................7

6. Internet vs Intranet.......................................................................................................................10

7. Advantages of using the intranet..............................................................................................11

8. How does it influence people.....................................................................................................12

9. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14

10. References..................................................................................................................................15

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Internet vs Intranet 1. Introduction

Although the difference between Intranets and the Internet is not great in terms of technology, the transmission of information is completely different from the organizational point of view. In this presentation, we shall concentrate on the differences and similarities between Intranets and the Internet. We also discuss information security threats surrounding Intranets and methods of protection against these threats. We have tried to make the presentation independent of the business area, so no references will be made to particular organizations or trademarks.

The use of Intranets as internal information transmission channels within organizations serves to emphasize the importance of their secure realization. Information security threats between Intranets and other networks and information systems are rather similar. The technology used in Intranets and the way that technology is used comprises a new threat source. Information security solutions in Intranets are based both on experiences gained from the Internet and on new solutions designed particularly for Intranets. Special areas of interest within Intranet security are communications, software, data and operations security. By researching these four areas, we hope to find usage differences in information security solutions between Intranets and the Internet. Information security seeks to protect data and information, systems and services under both normal and exceptional conditions. Such protection creates data and information confidentiality, integrity and availability.

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Internet vs Intranet 2. What is internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail.

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Internet vs Intranet 3. What is intranet

An intranet is a private computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network within an organization. Sometimes the term refers only to the organization's internal website, but may be a more extensive part of the organization's information technology infrastructure. It may host multiple private websites and constitute an important component and focal point of internal communication and collaboration. Any of the well known Internet protocols may be found in an intranet, such as HTTP (web services), SMTP (e-mail), and FTP (file transfer protocol). Internet technologies are often deployed to provide modern interfaces to legacy information systems hosting corporate data.

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Internet vs Intranet 4. Aspects and their differences

The Difference Between Intranet and Internet Design

Your intranet and your public website on the open Internet are two different information spaces and should have two different user interface designs. It is tempting to try to save design resources by reusing a single design, but it is a bad idea to do so because the two types of site differ along several dimensions:

Users differ. Intranet users are your own employees who know a lot about the company, its organizational structure, and special terminology and circumstances. Your Internet site is used by customers who will know much less about your company and also care less about it.

The tasks differ. The intranet is used for everyday work inside the company, including some quite complex applications; the Internet site is mainly used to find out information about your products.

The type of information differs. The intranet will have many draft reports, project progress reports, human resource information, and other detailed information, whereas the Internet site will have marketing information and customer support information.

The amount of information differs. Typically, an intranet has between ten and a hundred times as many pages as the same company's public website. The difference is due to the extensive amount of work-in-progress that is documented on the intranet and the fact that many projects and departments never publish anything publicly even though they have many internal documents.

Bandwidth and cross-platform needs differ. Intranets often run between a hundred and a thousand times faster than most Internet users' Web access which is stuck at low-band or mid-band, so it is feasible to use rich graphics and even multimedia and other advanced content on intranet pages. Also, it is sometimes possible to control what computers and software versions are supported on an intranet, meaning that designs need to be less cross-platform compatible (again allowing for more advanced page content).

Most basically, your intranet and your website are two different information spaces. They should look different in order to let employees know when they are on the internal net and when they have ventured out to the public site. Different looks will emphasize the sense of place and thus facilitate navigation. Also, making the two information spaces feel different will facilitate an understanding of when an employee is seeing information that can be freely shared with the outside and when the information is internal and confidential.

An intranet design should be much more task-oriented and less promotional than an Internet design. A company should only have a single intranet

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Internet vs Intranet design, so users only have to learn it once. Therefore it is acceptable to use a much larger number of options and features on an intranet since users will not feel intimidated and overwhelmed as they would on the open Internet where people move rapidly between sites. (I know of a frighteningly large number of companies with multiple intranet homepages and multiple intranet styles: Step 1 is to get rid of that in favor of a unified intranet.)

An intranet will need a much stronger navigational system than an Internet site because it has to encompass a larger amount of information. In particular, the intranet will need a navigation system to facilitate movement between servers, whereas a public website only needs to support within-site navigation.

Aspect Internet IntranetBusiness Goals

Communication, support marketing, sell products.

Broad goals including but not limited to communication of information accurately while improving staff efficiency.

Audience External users with a limited understanding of the organization.

Internal employees with a good understanding of the organization.

Efficiency Pages must display in reasonable time frame, however, messages and graphics may purposely be introduced to make a point even though the pages are delayed in being presented.

The primary goal of the site is to improve staff efficiency. Unnecessary content deters from productivity.

Size and Content

Small to medium with minimal changes to the content, possibly weekly or monthly on an actively changing site.

Medium to Massive with content changing hourly.

Content Narrow, centered around key products and services.

Broad, varied types and content focused on the tools needed to perform their job.

Presentation Appearance or Pizzazz is very important.

Consistency is more important than appearance.

Authors Often centralized. Often decentralized.

Server Control

operated by linked set of billions of computer servers world wide. This is due to the sheer size of data that is exchanged over internet, which makes it essential that control centers be decentralized

controlled by a single server, generally which can adequately handle all tasks

5. Advantages and Disadvantages

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Internet vs Intranet

Advantages DisadvantagesIntranet Platform Independent

Ease of publishingEasier to setupEase of useMaintenance is very easyCost effectiveInformation retrieval is timely manner

Security ConcernsIntranet may cause information overload

Internet Communication: The foremost target of internet has always been the communication. And internet has excelled beyond the expectations .Still; innovations are going on to make it faster, more reliable. By the advent of computer’s Internet, our earth has reduced and has attained the form of a global village.

Now we can communicate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other part of the world. Today for better communication, we can avail the facilities of e-mail; we can chat for hours with our loved ones. There are plenty messenger services in offering. With help of such services, it has become very easy to establish a kind of global friendship where you can share your thoughts, can explore other cultures of different ethnicity.

InformationInformation is probably the biggest advantage internet is offering. The Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any topic under the sun is available on the Internet. The search engines like Google, yahoo is at your service on the Internet. You can almost find any type of data on almost any kind of subject that you are looking for. There is a huge amount of information available on the internet for just about every subject

Theft of Personal informationIf you use the Internet, you may be facing grave danger as your personal information such as name, address, credit card number etc. can be accessed by other culprits to make your problems worse.

Spamming: Spamming refers to sending unwanted e-mails in bulk, which provide no purpose and needlessly obstruct the entire system. Such illegal activities can be very frustrating for you, and so instead of just ignoring it, you should make an effort to try and stop these activities so that using the Internet can become that much safer.

Virus threatVirus is nothing but a program which disrupts the normal functioning of your computer systems. Computers attached to internet are more prone to virus attacks and they can end up into crashing your whole hard disk, causing you considerable headache.

Pornography: This is perhaps the biggest threat related to your children’s healthy mental life. A very serious issue concerning the Internet. There are thousands of pornographic sites on the Internet that can be easily found and can be a detrimental factor to letting children use

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Internet vs Intranet known to man, ranging from government law and services, trade fairs and conferences, market information, new ideas and technical support, the list is end less.

Students and children are among the top users who surf the Internet for research. Today, it is almost required that students should use the Internet for research for the purpose of gathering resources. Teachers have started giving assignments that require research on the Internet. Almost every coming day, researches on medical issues become much easier to locate. Numerous web sites available on the net are offering loads of information for people to research diseases and talk to doctors online at sites such as, America’s Doctor. During 1998 over 20 million people reported going online to retrieve health information.

EntertainmentEntertainment is another popular raison d'être why many people prefer to surf the Internet. In fact, media of internet has become quite successful in trapping multifaceted entertainment factor. Downloading games, visiting chat rooms or just surfing the Web are some of the uses people have discovered. There are numerous games that may be downloaded from the Internet for free. The industry of online gaming has tasted dramatic and phenomenal attention by game lovers. Chat rooms are popular because users can meet new and interesting people. In fact, the Internet has been successfully used by people to find life long partners. When people surf the Web, there are numerous things that can be found. Music, hobbies, news and more can be found and shared on the Internet.

the Internet.

Though, internet can also create havoc, destruction and its misuse can be very fatal, the advantages of it outweigh its disadvantages

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Internet vs Intranet ServicesMany services are now provided on the internet such as online banking, job seeking, purchasing tickets for your favorite movies, guidance services on array of topics engulfing the every aspect of life, and hotel reservations. Often these services are not available off-line and can cost you more.

E-CommerceEcommerce is the concept used for any type of commercial maneuvering, or business deals that involves the transfer of information across the globe via Internet. It has become a phenomenon associated with any kind of shopping, almost anything. You name it and Ecommerce with its giant tentacles engulfing every single product and service will make you available at your door steps. It has got a real amazing and wide range of products from household needs, technology to entertainment

6. Internet vs Intranet

The technologies of the Internet and Intranets are quite similar, but the way in which the technologies are exploited, are different. We could define the Internet as a computer network, which is based on smaller independent networks owned by single organizations. These small networks are connected by means of routers and fixed communications connections to the global Internet. The Internet was originally only a communication channel for scientists, researchers and specialists. Then, the introduction of browser software and the graphical user interface simplified data and information search. The uncomplicated use of browsers and the explosive increase of information available on the net attracted new groups of people.

Intranets have been defined as internal communication systems of organizations based on the standards of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) (Telleen 1996).

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Internet vs Intranet Intranets are based on Internet technology, i.e. technologies that all together generate the Internet (Hinrichs 1997). For example, Internet routers and their communication connections constitute a part of this technology. Intranets could also be defined as the use of Internet technology in organizational networks (Levitt 1996). In yet another sense, Intranets could be viewed as private networks based on WWW servers (Pal 1996).

By combining all these definitions, Intranets could be regarded as internal information systems owned by single organizations employing Internet technology. And like the Internet, Intranets may also be global. Communications between the various sites of an organization are transmitted via its computer network or via the Internet.

7. Advantages of using the intranet

The main idea of Intranets is the same as that of the Internet, i.e. to facilitate the flow of information. Intranets enable users to keep in touch with physically remote sites of their organizations by using the Internet or other communication networks, which simplifies the transmission of information between the different sites. When using the Internet, the information security threats posed by the Internet to the organization must be borne in mind at all times. For example, the Internet service could be shut down for a while constituting a severe threat for the availability of information. One significant advantage of using Intranets in comparison with other solutions based on corresponding network systems is the hardware independence of the Internet technology. Internet technology has successfully solved the problem of incompatible hardware and software and permits organizations to connect all their computers, operating systems and databases to a single independent system (Cortese 1996). There is, however, an unresolved compatibility problem in browser technology.

Another major advantage of Intranets in comparison with other corresponding technologies is the simplicity and versatility of the Intranet user interface and the ease with which voice and images can be transmitted. The WWW-based user interface is easy to learn and use. By clicking on hyperlinks it is easy to move from one document to another and to fetch files to workstations. The technology also allows the real time transmission of voice and images.

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Internet vs Intranet Intranets also enable one user interface to contain functions belonging to a number of different applications. Reports, announcements, notices, memorandums, phone and address books could all be accessed by a single browser. In addition, the maintenance and use of databases can also be carried out via the Intranet.

Moreover, Intranets make it is possible to distribute real time information to all employees, provided that every information producer puts their documents immediately on a proper platform. The use of electronic platforms decreases the distribution of paper documents, as everyone can read and print only such documents as s/he deems important. The distribution of information over an Intranet makes it easier for everybody to follow important news. The transfer of multi-environment applications to a single Intranet-based system significantly facilitates the use and maintenance of the system. As every Intranet application is based on the same principles of use, users are no longer required to learn the characteristic details of every system. Also maintenance personnel has to deal with one working environment instead of several disparate systems.

8. How does it influence people

Since the internet has become popular, it's being used for many purposes. Through the help of the World Wide Web and websites, the internet has become very useful in many ways for the common man. Today internet has brought a globe in a single room. Right from news across the corner of the world, wealth of knowledge to shopping, purchasing the tickets of your favorite movie-everything is at your finger tips.

Here is the list of some common uses of internet

1) Email: By using internet now we can communicate in a fraction of seconds with a person who is sitting in the other part of the world. Today for better communication, we can avail the facilities of Email. We can chat for hours with our loved ones. There are plenty messenger services and email services offering this service for free. With help of such services, it has become very easy to establish a kind of global friendship where you can share your thoughts, can explore other cultures of different ethnicity.

2) Information: The biggest advantage that internet offering is information. The internet and the World Wide Web has made it easy for anyone to access information and it can be of any type, as the internet is flooded with information. The internet and the World Wide Web has made it easy for anyone to access information and it can be of any type. Any kind of information on any topic is available on the Internet.

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Internet vs Intranet 3) Business: World trade has seen a big boom with the help of the internet, as it has become easier for buyers and sellers to communicate and also to advertise their sites. Now a day's most of the people are using online classified sites to buy or sell or advertising their products or services. Classified sites save a lot of money and time so this is chosen as medium by most of people to advertise their products. We have many classified sites on the web like craigslist, Adsglobe.com, Kijiji etc.

4) Social Networking: Today social networking sites have become an important part of the online community. Almost all users are members use it for personal and business purposes. It's an awesome place to network with many entrepreneurs who come here to begin building their own personal and business brand.

5) Shopping: In today's busy life most of us are interested to shop online. Now a day's almost anything can be bought with the use of the internet. In countries like US most of consumers prefer to shop from home. We have many shopping sites on internet like amazon.com, Dealsglobe.com etc. People also use the internet to auction goods. There are many auction sites online, where anything can be sold.

6) Entertainment: On internet we can find all forms of entertainment from watching films to playing games online. Almost anyone can find the right kind of entertainment for themselves. When people surf the Web, there are numerous things that can be found. Music, hobbies, news and more can be found and shared on the Internet. There are numerous games that may be downloaded from the Internet for free.

7) E-Commerce: Ecommerce is the concept used for any type of commercial maneuvering, or business deals that involves the transfer of information across the globe via internet. It has become a phenomenon associated with any kind of shopping, almost anything. It has got a real amazing and range of products from household needs, technology to entertainment.

8) Services: Many services are now provided on the internet such as online banking, job seeking, purchasing tickets for your favorite movies, and guidance services on array of topics in the every aspect of life, and hotel reservations and bills paying. Often these services are not available off-line and can cost you more.

9) Job Search: Internet makes life easy for both employers and job seekers as there are plenty of job sites which connects employers and job seekers.

10) Dating/Personals: People are connecting with others though internet and finding their life partners. Internet not only helps to find the right person but also to continue the relationship

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Internet vs Intranet 9. Conclusion

In the information age that we live in today, the speed at which information can travel inside a company would often indicate the productivity of that company. It is often necessary to create an environment where the flow of data is unimpeded and the intended recipient gets it instantaneously. Computers make this possible and there are multiple ways to implement such a network.

An Intranet is a computer network that is designed to work like the internet but in a much smaller scale and is restricted only to the employees of the company. It is possible to run FTP, HTTP, and mail servers in the intranet that is independent and inaccessible from the internet without proper authorization. This allows the employees to send progress reports to their manager even when they cannot meet in person. Workers could also work collaboratively on a certain project while keeping their paperwork properly synchronized. It is often necessary to have access to the internet from within your intranet, which is why intranets are placed behind a firewall. Some companies even deploy two firewalls and place some services inside the DMZ in order to raise their security further.

An intranet, although very helpful, wouldn’t be very effective if it is totally removed from the internet. The internet is the massive network of computers from all around the world. It allows people to virtually any point in the world at a very minimal cost. Services like Email and VoIP has allowed many people to keep in touch despite geographical locations and time zones.

Being connected to the internet, a company can have their people in the field or those who are working at home to still be able to do what they would usually do when they are inside the office. They can connect to services inside the intranet and submit their work or contact their coworkers and superiors. They can even call online if their office supports IP-PABX systems.

The Intranet and the Internet are two domains that are very alike but are often segregated in order to maintain security. If properly configured and guarded, an Intranet that is connected to the Internet could raise your company’s productivity by leaps and bound; not to mention cutting down the cost of traditional communications. It could also open the door to malicious people who can do major damage or even steal confidential company data if done haphazardly. It should be up to the management to make sure that all precautions are taken

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Internet vs Intranet 10. References

 

 

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