An inhouse Web site on the company's local network (LAN) that serves employees only. Having browser-based applications on the network makes a LAN an intranet. Intranet pages may link to the Internet, but the intranet is not accessed by the general public. It provides a standard way to publish anything including company policy, news, schedules, medical and insurance forms and training manuals. It also offers blogs and wikis and a venue for social activities such as sports and exercise.

Since the Web browser is the primary interface, intranets offer cross-platform support between Windows, Mac and Linux desktops.

An Internal Web
Intranets use the same HTTP server (Web server) technology, protocols and hypertext links as the public Web. The major difference is that they reside inside the firewall, fortified from the outside world. See HTTP and hypertext.

Good Riddance
When "intranet" is used together with "Internet," each term must be emphasized, creating a verbal tongue twister for an instructor. The term was popular in the mid 1990s, but although still used, browser-based applications are so common that intranet evolved back to simply "LAN." See LAN, extranet and firewall.