An Intranet is a communication infrastructure. It is based on the communication standards of the Internet and the content standards of the World-Wide Web. Therefore, the tools used to create an Intranet are identical to those used for Internet and Web applications. The distinguishing feature of an Intranet is that access to information published on the Intranet is restricted to clients in the Intranet group. Historically this has been accomplished with LANs protected by Firewalls. Web browser such as Netscape Navigator, Netscape Communicator, or Microsoft Internet Explorer is used to display Web pages that contain links to company stored information. Those links consist of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), which is the addressing mechanism used to request Web pages.
Intranets use the same techniques and technology as the Internet. For example, the Web is used extensively with intranets. Similarly, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) developed to format Web pages on the Internet. Intranets can be access only by individuals within an organization, and by outsiders that have passwords to allow them access. My company provides secure VPN tunnel remote access service to those that are outside the firewall and will need access to the intranet.
At least three sources of content quickly emerge on our enterprise Intranets: formal, project/group, and informal. .
The formal information is the officially sanctioned and commissioned information of the enterprise. It usually reviewed for accuracy, currency, confidentiality, liability and commitment. This is the information with which the formal management infrastructure is most concerned. .
Project/group information used within a specific group to communicate and share ideas, coordinate activities or manage the development and approval of content that eventually will become formal. This information generally not listed in the enterprise-wide directories and it is protected by passwords .
