IntranetIntranetYou've probably come across the term "intranet" more than once. Although an intranet shares many characteristics with the Internet, at least one of them is substantially different. Just as the Internet is having a profound effect on the way we communicate, the intranet promises to transform the corporate world. Companies as diverse as Ford, Silicon Graphics, and Tyson Foods have all implemented this technology, improving productivity and reducing costs. But what is an Intranet? You can think of it as an internal Internet designed for use within a company, university or organization. What distinguishes an intranet from the freely accessible Internet is that intranets are private. Confidential Until recently, companies relied on proprietary hardware and programs to install networks on their computers, an expensive and time-consuming process that became much more difficult when the company's offices were spread out all over the world. Even under the best conditions, sharing information between different programs, file formats, and platforms is no easy task. Using the same technology applied to the Internet, intranets solve this problem, making internal communications and collaboration much easier. Intranets use TCP/IP to transmit network information and HTML to create documents. The information is stored on one or more servers within the company and accessed through a web viewer, such as Navigator or Explorer. These miniature Internets have all the same features - individual personal pages, newsgroups, email - but are limited to employees and outside contractors. For employees who are already familiar with Web browsing techniques, learning how to navigate the company intranet requires little training. The Intranet Web page has the same point-and-click graphical interface. While being connected to the Internet is helpful on an intranet, it is not essential. Even if they connect externally, companies limit access from the Internet by building a firewall or firewall. With so much corporate information accessible via internal servers, security is always a priority. A new way of working Organizations thrive on information, but accessing it isn't always easy.