The age of information technology owes a lot to the development of computer networking. It is computer networking on various scales, which has turned information into even more of a commodity today. There are two types of computer networks that you always keep hearing about. One is of course the 'Internet' and the other which may be in use in your company is an 'Intranet'. This article will make an intranet vs internet comparison and give you an insight into the difference between the two types of networks.
The concepts fundamental to both the intranet and internet are those of computer networking. Computer networking enables the sharing of resources and information among a group of computers. The first operational computer network was created for the United States Department of Defense and was known as 'Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). Since then, networking technology and architecture evolved in complexity and sophistication, finally giving us the internet. An advanced set of computer networking software and hardware has made networking possible. As you will see ahead, an intranet and the internet are two points on the scale of networking complexity.
Intranet vs Internet : Definition
An intranet is an internal private computer network or connection of one or more computer networks, whose use and access is restricted to an organization and its employees. Transfer of data over this kind of a network is controlled using the internet protocols like hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) and file transfer protocol (FTP). These kinds of networks are used for ease of information sharing and communication in companies. In industries based on the Information technology sector, having intranets is absolutely necessary as their work involves a lot of data sharing.
The very fact that you are accessing information is through the Internet, shows that you have an idea of what the internet or 'International Network' can do for you. Take small networks spread in a small region of your city, then integrate it with other such small networks to form local area networks. Then integrate all such local area networks to form a wide area network of computers. Next integrate such wide area networks into a national network and then join all such national networks together and what you will get is the Internet! It is a single network that connects computers all over the world using Internet protocols, which make information sharing and routing possible. The main point of difference between intranet and Internet is, that while intranet involves the networking of a few hundred computers, Internet is a network of more than billion computers spread worldwide!
Intranet vs Internet : Structure, Scale & Complexity
The structure of an intranet is similar in principle to the Internet. Both use a server-client structure and both networks transfer data using Internet protocols. In fact, an intranet is often referred to as a 'Private Internet'. However, they fundamentally differ due to the vast difference in networking scale and complexity. With billions of computers sharing and transferring data amongst each other, the administration of the Internet is far more complex, as it is the mother of all computer networks. A large amount of networking and routing hardware is needed to connect all the computers worldwide. On the other hand, an intranet, being restricted to a few computers is easier to manage.
Intranet vs Internet : Server Control
One of the most fundamental of intranet and internet differences is the server control. An intranet is controlled by a single server, generally which can adequately handle all tasks. Whereas, the Internet is 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. It is the difference between the governing of a city and governing a nation! Decentralization is essential.
Intranet vs Internet : Uses
The Internet and the intranet differ in their uses. Internet is a global network which has information sharing on a global level as its goal. Whereas, an intranet is built in an organization, so that its resources can be shard and employee communication is made possible. Corporate intranets have restricted access controlled by user ids and passwords, which are not accessible to anybody on the outside. Internet is more open in the sense, that everything that is shared on the internet is accessible to every person connected to it, all over the world.
So, these was Intranet vs Internet comparison, which was aimed at showing you the fundamental difference between the two. The difference is primarily that of complexity in manageability while, the fundamental principles and technologies that make both networks possible are the same.