What is an Extranet?
An extranet is a controlled-access environment for collaborating with people outside an organization. You can share resources with partners or clients, depending on defined permissions and roles.
In other words, the extranet can be described as part of the company’s intranet that is open to users outside the company, who often use the Internet and its protocols.
External networks usually have semi-private access. To access the corporate extranet, the user does not have to be an employee of the company, but must have a relationship with the organization.
This is why the extranet requires a certain level of security so that no unauthorized person can access it. Another advantage of the extranet is that it can be used like an intranet to collaborate with other companies.
The term extranet was first used in the late 1990s and began to be used across various industries and companies, so that certain documents could be viewed over the network by certain employees authorized by these companies.
