Extranet

The extranet according to ISO / IEC 2382 is an extension of the intranet to a component that can be used by a specified group of external users. Extranets are used to provide information that is made ​​available, for example, companies, customers or partners, but not the public.

Extranets allow across the efficient exchange of confidential data across company boundaries and are well suited to accelerate the communication along the supply chain.

Technology

Extranet uses the same techniques, such as the internet ( inter alia, TCP / IP, UDP).

The extranet can be grounded via protective mechanisms to the Internet or may be a completely separate private network which is only accessible by a separate leased line or dial-up. Frequently encountered are Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that tunnel the private connection over a public network.

To secure the connection, various encryption methods may be used.