| an intranet that is partially accessible to authorized persons outside of a company or organization. |
ex·tra·net  (ěk'strə-nět') n. An extension of an institution's intranet, especially over the World Wide Web, enabling communication between the institution and people it deals with, often by providing limited access to its intranet. |
| extranet (ěk'strə-nět') Pronunciation Key
An extension of an institution's intranet, enabling communication between the institution and people it deals with, often by providing limited access to its intranet. |
extranet World-Wide Web
The extension of a company's intranet out onto the Internet, e.g. to allow selected customers, suppliers and mobile workers to access the company's private data and applications via the World-Wide Web. This is in contrast to, and usually in addition to, the company's public website which is accessible to everyone. The difference can be somewhat blurred but generally an extranet implies real-time access through a firewall of some kind.
Such facilities require very careful attention to security but are becoming an increasingly important means of delivering services and communicating efficiently.
[Did Marc Andreessen invent the term in September 1996?]
(1997-12-17)