Large corporations Essay

Intranets be underground websites, connections, or channels, usually own by great(p) corporations. The look and the environment of Intranets ar relatively the selfsame(prenominal) as meshworks the only difference between them is the fact that Intranets built to be get-at-able only to a group of authorized individuals that belongs to a certain(p) company. For an Intranet connection to work, the presence of at least two servers is required, and one of which is vent to act as a web or a show server. The one, on the other hand, is supposed to work as an electronic mail server.The blistering and more efficient the microprocessor these individual server has, the better allow the Intranet process is going to be. Of course, aside from the servers, individual information processing systems that connect to the Intranet are besides fragmentize of the whole apparatus. These client calculators keep be connected either somaticly to the server through the use of a network cab le or wirelessly courtesy of wireless network cards (Koehler, 1998). The two servers involved are tasked to transmit files, folders, and web pages to all the calculating machines connected to it through it. The whole setup is also made possible through the use of the server bundle program package product installed in it.Depending on what is required, each of the two servers deprivations an in operation(p) system, such(prenominal) as Windows, Unix, or Linux, and a combination of diametric programming software exchangeable ASP, PHP, XML, Perl, and other similar employments. Client computers however, would just require a functional operating system and a compatible browser (Dasgupta, 2001). It is the software that basically allows Intranet to function. A regular Windows operating system such as Windows 2000 and Windows XP are capable of working as web and email servers later on performing the necessity configuration.However, a lot of administrators prefer to use Windows 2000 horde or Novell instead of the ones stated preceding(prenominal). Both Windows 2000 Server and Novell wealthy person the necessary software embedded in them so that the Intranet connection potful absolutely gap through. Intranet data are ancestral through the use of protocols, sockets, ports, and IP turnes. Once the required sets of software are configured and the necessary hardware in place, then the Intranet connection successfully works. It does not stop there, however. In an inner office intranet setup, gage is of ut about importance.Without security parameters, data becomes accessible to the public. The regular username- playword dialogue box manifests a commonly practiced Intranet security method. But aside from that, firewalls back tooth also serve as a good security measure because of its ability to block access from an unauthorized IP addresses and similar connection points. Encryption software can also be used, curiously if sensitive data are involved, such as bank account numbers, credit cards, and similar financial information (Ashley, 1999). II. hardware Any regular computer with a network card physically or remotely connected to the intranet can access the server.The more heavy hardware urgencys in an inner office intranet setup therefore, are the web, file, and email servers. These servers should adequately provide high- hurry access to the whole network, as they are the backbone of the Intranet system. An office system with more than a thousand employees need a file server with 4 Megahertz processor speed having at least 1 Gigabytes of memory installed. On the other hand, the hard disk it contains should be 10 gigabytes or above and ideally, should follow a redundant array configuration.Still considered as part of the hardware requirement is the servers operating system and it is the platform from which the Intranet system will work. As stated previously, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server is an example of a functional operating sy stem as it has Microsoft cyberspace Information Server pre-installed in it. Macintosh, Linux and Unix are also popular choices, although which platform to choose depends entirely on the developers smartise and the companys resources. Intranet follows the basic idea of local eye socket networking. As such, the use of physical network connections is required, either directly or wirelessly.Most companies use network cards, cables, hubs, switches and wireless routers to transmit data requests from the computer to the server and then back again. And for the server to understand which remote computer requested a particular data, the concept of IP addressing comes into play. IP address means Internet protocol address and each computer in the network is assigned a unique number that falls inwardly the servers subnet. Computers dont necessarily understand tender-hearted language. Consequently, the data received from the remote computer has to be translated into a enactment that the main(prenominal) servers can understand.This is the main task of a protocol stack, which is some other program built-in into a computers operating system. Protocol stacks are more commonly called as the TCP/IP protocol, and this is what most companies, large and small alike prefer to use. These data pass through ports. Ports are a special set of numbers fall in in the header of every data packet sent by the client and the server. Ports are used so that the data being transmitted are mapped properly and directly to the correct process or application as designated. Different applications use different ports.Files, web pages, and emails each pass through a unique port in a computer. This is main think why it is possible to accept these three different part so data packets all at the same time (Dasgupta, 2001). Routers, on the other hand, are the devices that are tasked to fuck the need location of the computer that the data is intended for. Routers can either be a software functi oning inside the server, like in the case of proxies. But in many cases, a router is a hardware that contains a firmware that has the cognitive fill to direct traffic within the network or sub-network.While routers know all the computers below them, they do not necessarily know the ones above them. The moment that a packet, or a piece of information, is received by the router from the server, it checks the IP address the data is for. When it finds its location, it will then send the data harmonisely. Else, it would transfer the data to the next router in the network, which will do the exact same process until the computer with the matching IP address is found. afterward which, the computer receives the data and is translated in a human-understandable form so that it can be used by the employee who requested it (Dasgupta, 2001).III. Software After the physical layer is in place and is running, the next thing that the administrator has to do is to setup the server-side functions o f inner office Intranet. Depending upon the requirements of the company, a web page-like interface can be installed, which usually come in the form of simple hypertext markup language software. But that can be enhanced if utilized along with different script builder programs such as Cold Fusion, CGI, and database applications like Oracle. AT this point, the concepts applied here are generally the same as that an Internet connection.Only in this case, the data is not made accessible to the public, exclusively only to the authorized commonwealth belonging to the office network. Aside from inflexible coding software, there is also that need for a design or the so-called perfect interface. Design and interface falls under the smashed ware requirement of an Intranet network, although this category is still considered part of the software requirements. The most common reason why companies choose to setup an Intranet connection is because they take over that need to gather all their e mployees at a common point.For this reason alone, an Intranets design and presentation becomes beta. Consequently, they should always go well within what the employees wants to see and hear every time they access the portal and what the management and the shareholders want to impart. And aside from a good web designer, a happy writer may also be required to create announcements, ads, slogans, and content for the inner offices intranet site (Koehler, 1998). IV. Security The most important aspect of Intranet connection would be its security, for it is that which primarily makes the Intranet different from the Internet.In an Internet setup, mountain from across the globe can access the data provided they have a telephone line, a modem, and a decent connection speed. Whereas in an Intranet, only authorized people are allowed. Only those who have desks and computers provided by the company can possibly have access to Intranet. Furthermore, in an Intranet setup, employees are given a username and password and from there, they can be categorized according to their respective surgical incision. As a result, only people belonging to a particular department can access the resources allotted to them.For example, the finance department can only go through files related to accounting art object the marketing department can only download, modify, and create files that relates to sales. Most of the time, those people who belong to the upper echelon are given total access across departments (Koehler, 1998). Aside from categorization, it is also important for an inner office intranet to use firewalls to tho protect their network from unauthorized international access. Some intranets allow extraneous access from their employees, meaning these people have the ability to connect from outside the office by passing through a virtual private network.For such applications, intensive firewalls are needed to keep other people away from the companys database and server. Most com panies use Cisco router firewalls, which can be considered as hardware, while there are companies that settle for strictly software-based firewalls similar but not totally alike, to what Norton, Symantec, and AVG creates. But most firewalls that large corporations use are highly customized meaning a pool of expert programmers are commissioned to create them from scratch. Open ended and individualized firewalls like these are harder to penetrate unlike the pre-built ones.Basically, what firewalls do is to block the ports from which data passes through, especially if the request comes from an unauthorized source (Ashley, 1999).ReferencesAshley, Paul. (1999). Practical Intranet Security Overview of the State of the artwork and Available Technologies. Massachusetts Kulwer Academic Publishers. Dasgupta, Subhasish. (2001). Managing Internet and Intranet Technologies in Organizations Challenges and Opportunities. Pennsylvania caprice Group Publishing. Koehler, Jerry W. (1998). The Huma n Side of Intranets Content, Style, & Politics. Florida CRC Press LLC.