Management Information System (MIS) Practice Exam

What is a key difference between an intranet and an extranet?

1. An intranet looks and acts just like a publicly accessible Web site.

2. An intranet uses the same hardware as a publicly accessible Web site.

3. Users access their company's intranet using their Web browser.

4. In its simplest form, intranet communications do not travel across the Internet.

The correct answer is: In its simplest form, intranet communications do not travel across the Internet.

The distinction between an intranet and an extranet primarily centers on their accessibility and the network they operate on. An intranet is a private network used by an organization to facilitate communication and collaboration among its employees. One of the defining characteristics of an intranet is that it typically does not traverse the public Internet; instead, it is confined to the internal network of the organization. This allows for added security and controlled access. This option highlights the fundamental purpose of an intranet: to enable secure internal communication that is insulated from external access, which is why it does not rely on the Internet for its operations. In contrast, extranet refers to a controlled private network that allows access to specific external users, such as partners or customers, often utilizing the Internet or secure connections. The other options, while they may contain elements that can apply to intranets, do not encapsulate the primary differentiation as effectively. For instance, the notion that an intranet looks like a publicly accessible website is misleading because, although it can be designed with similar interfaces, the defining characteristic is its restricted access and internal operation. Similarly, the hardware aspect and the use of web browsers are common features that do not specifically differentiate between the two types of networks.