POWER UP YOUR SMALL-MEDIUM BUSINESS: A GUIDE TO ENABLING NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES

Chapter 6: Intranets, Extranets, and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

(117)

Extranets

Extranets fill the gap between the Internet and intranets. They are most often

business-to-business (B2B) intranets that allow controlled, secure access between

a company’s intranet and authorized, authenticated users from outside the

business. An extranet can be viewed as a secure part of a company’s intranet that

is made accessible to select other companies and customers and allows

collaboration with them, as shown in Figure 6-3.

Figure 6-3 Extranets Enable Collaboration

Like intranets, extranets are not constrained by geographic locations. During

the past several years, ...