Blogs >> Technology >>
Intranets
Intranets are everywhere. I would wager that every person reading this post uses one or two different intranets each day. You may even control one.
Let’s get back to the “big picture” definitions: an intranet and, in the next couple of pages, THE Internet. An intranet is nothing more than a bunch of PCs, “big boxes” (like servers), and peripherals (like printers) connected together so that they can communicate with each other. In fact, if your home setup has two computers which use a common connection to the Internet—that is, a single DSL or cable modem line, rather than individual modem lines—then you have an intranet. There’s no requirement to understand how it works in order to use it. After all, we don’t need to know how an airplane functions to ride on one. If you have an intranet, you can start bragging about it to your friends immediately.
Many intranets are local-area networks, commonly called LANs. Although it might seem like a circular definition, a LAN is a network that spans a local area. OK, well, let’s just leave it at that for now. Although LAN often is used as a catch-all phrase, there are different types of LANs, differentiated by the physical arrangement (usually referred to as the topology) of the machines on the network, the cabling used to connect them, and the rules they use to encode and send data.
Ethernet, another term you may have heard, is a LAN protocol.
A protocol is nothing more than a set of rules for communication. Consider that American business people have one protocol for sharing their cards—usually by shoving it in someone’s hand—while the Japanese have a more formal ritual of accepting the card, holding it with two hands, actually looking at it, and then promising to get it tattooed somewhere on their body.
Ethernet is a LAN which uses coaxial or twisted cabling, and has its devices physically connected either along a single cable—also called a backbone—in what is known as a bus topology.
In my next post I will bore you with some common wiring definitions.
Let’s get back to the “big picture” definitions: an intranet and, in the next couple of pages, THE Internet. An intranet is nothing more than a bunch of PCs, “big boxes” (like servers), and peripherals (like printers) connected together so that they can communicate with each other. In fact, if your home setup has two computers which use a common connection to the Internet—that is, a single DSL or cable modem line, rather than individual modem lines—then you have an intranet. There’s no requirement to understand how it works in order to use it. After all, we don’t need to know how an airplane functions to ride on one. If you have an intranet, you can start bragging about it to your friends immediately.
Many intranets are local-area networks, commonly called LANs. Although it might seem like a circular definition, a LAN is a network that spans a local area. OK, well, let’s just leave it at that for now. Although LAN often is used as a catch-all phrase, there are different types of LANs, differentiated by the physical arrangement (usually referred to as the topology) of the machines on the network, the cabling used to connect them, and the rules they use to encode and send data.
Ethernet, another term you may have heard, is a LAN protocol.
A protocol is nothing more than a set of rules for communication. Consider that American business people have one protocol for sharing their cards—usually by shoving it in someone’s hand—while the Japanese have a more formal ritual of accepting the card, holding it with two hands, actually looking at it, and then promising to get it tattooed somewhere on their body.
Ethernet is a LAN which uses coaxial or twisted cabling, and has its devices physically connected either along a single cable—also called a backbone—in what is known as a bus topology.
In my next post I will bore you with some common wiring definitions.
|
|
