Building an Intranet

An intranet site closely resembles a typical website, except for one key feature--it is completely protected. Unlike websites that can be freely accessed by any one online, intranet applications can only be accessed by those who are granted password permission. Company intranet has become a proven way to share information among employees and clients via the Internet. And for companies that are home based, building an intranet has never been so easy.

Instructions

1. Designate one computer in your home that will be solely responsible for maintaining your intranet portal. A newer model computer is highly suggested since you will need one that is able to recognize the current Internet protocols, and that has plenty of hard disk space to handle heavy web traffic.

2. Install an Internet connection. When building an intranet, the most important thing is access to the World Wide Web. A LAN (local area network) service is ideal, and fast and can have you connected to the Internet in no time.

3. Choose your domain name. When you are building and intranet, you want to use a name that can be easily remembered and easily found. Once you have decided on the name, you can purchase the domain name for a fee online.

4. Build your website. There are many online sites that offer web space for a fee. Choosing one that will provide you with the necessary bandwidth to handle traffic and that has an easy to use interface, is important. Some companies that offer web space also offer templates to help build your intranet site.

5. Choose a web server. In order to create an intranet design that is suitable for your employees and clients, your web page must be hosted on a web server. Apache is a free web server that is fast and reliable.

6. Add password protection after you have completed building the intranet site. The web server that you have used to host your intranet service will have instructions on how to protect the site from outside intrusions--especially, if you are planning on placing sensitive information within your web pages that you prefer to be accessed strictly by employees.

Tips & Warnings

• Bulletin boards, forums, event calendars and a page dedicated to important downloadable forms may be something that you want to consider. These special pages will encourage communication and interaction for your employees, making for a happier cyber workplace. Plan to devote plenty of time to the creation and maintenance of the intranet. Servers have the tendency to crash, and information must be uploaded from time to time. If you are not around to see that everything is functioning properly, employees and clients may not be able to gain access, which can have a negative effect on your business.

• Companies such as, Trigent, offer the versatility of building and maintaining an intranet site all in one place. Usually a monthly fee is charged, but the benefits of reliable service, backup protections and online support are worth it to some. Always have a back up plan. Weekly backups are suggested to keep you from losing important data that can become corrupt in the event of a crash. A content management system can be added to your intranet site to protect it.

Resources

• Apache
• Open Source CMS
• Trigent