Overview of the Internet, Advantages and disadvantage of internet, intranet and extranet

                   OVERVIEW OF THE INTERNET

INTERNET
DEFINITION The Internet is a worldwide collection of networks that links millions of businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and individuals.
ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
Software Downloads: You can freely download software like utilities, games, music, videos, movies, etc from the Internet.	Virus threat: Computers attached to Internet are more prone to virus attacks and they can end up into crashing your whole hard disk.
Online Services: -Perform all your transactions online. -Can book tickets for a movie, transfer funds, pay utility bills. -Make a hotel or flight reservation right from your home.	Social Disconnect: -People now only meet on social networks. -More and more people are getting engaged with virtual world and drifting apart from their friends and family.
E-mail: People can sent messages. It is delivered instantly to people anywhere in the world, unlike traditional mail that takes a lot of time.	Dangers involved when children using the Internet : When children talk to others online, they do not realize they could actually be talking to a harmful person. Plus, there are thousands of pornographic sites on the Internet that can be easily found.
Information resources: Can find any information on almost any kind of subject that you are looking for by using search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.	Theft of Personal information: Your personal information such as your name, address, credit card, bank details and other information can be accessed by an irresponsible people for their own benefit.

INTRANET
DEFINITION Network which only available inside an organization or a company
ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
Commercial or confidential data is kept secure within the organization	High financial cost incurred by the company when initially implementing the intranet
Email remain private and may also be encrypted	Connections between an intranet and the Internet potentially compromises security, by allowing virus infections or system hacking.
High bandwidth. No connection limits unlike the Internet	Staff needs training to ensure workers know how to use the system effectively.
Reliable. The company will have dedicated IT personnel to keep things running smoothly.	Information overload is another disadvantage because it reduces productivity.

EXTRANET
DEFINITION Portion of a company’s network that allows customers or suppliers of a company to access parts of an enterprise’s intranet.
ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
Exchange large volumes of data using electronic data interchange (EDI)	Extranets can be expensive to implement and maintain within an organization (e.g., hardware, software, employee training costs), if hosted internally rather than by an application service provider.
Share product catalogs exclusively with trade partners	Security of extranets can be a concern when hosting valuable or proprietary information.
Collaborate with other companies on joint development efforts
Jointly develop and use training programs with other companies