Extending Intranets to an Extranet
You
may want to grant access to your intranet to authorized users from
your customers, vendors, suppliers, or other partners. For example,
a company may want to share business information with its vendors
and customers by granting limited access to its intranet. You can
use the Internet to extend intranet access to authorized users. Such
an intranet that is partially accessible to only authorized users
through the Internet, or through other means, is called an extranet.
Setting up an extranet through the Internet is easier and more
economical than setting up a dedicated communication link between
two companies. However, an extranet is less secure than a private
intranet because it allows possible access by unauthorized users.
