As necessity is the mother of invention.. network engineers were not satisfied with traditional local area networks. This unsatisfaction increases as Internet’s popularity increased. Engineers asked (why can’t we make an indoor internet?)

difficult to deliver internal information. The problem developed over time; more and more documentation was created and stored in a variety of formats requiring a diverse tool set for access. People needed to find these resources quickly and easily to get their jobs done effectively, but the plethora of tools often got in the way.

With the SWW, employees have access to a widening pool of online information that is presented in an easy-to-use format, via NCSA's Mosaic.

Intranets are the Internet within, using the same technology components as the Internet within an organization or company. Intranets cost less than alternatives including paper and ink, allow faster deployment of applications and services, and provide a uniform medium for communication and services including the deployment of applications across the computing infrastructure of the organization.

While everyone seems to be talking about the World Wide Web (WWW) and we're constantly bombarded with corporate Web addresses in all types of media, the real workhorse for many companies is using WWW technology over internal networks. Fully 50% of Web-related hardware and software is being purchased for use INSIDE corporate networks. In fact, this revolution has even spawned a new word - Intranet!

Many companies are realizing that their current communications vehicles are too limited to cope with today's market environment. An Intranet can help by providing information in a way that is immediate, easy to use, rich in format and versatile. Netscape Communications (http://www.netscape.com/) points out that Intranets are inexpensive - at less than $40 per user on an interdepartmental or company wide basis, they cost far less than most other communications or workgroup systems.

While Intranet applications are virtually limitless, they generally fit into one of three categories:

HTML documents must be decomposed into many smaller hyperlinked subdocuments

For an Internet-connected intranet, you must pick a domain name.A domian name has a corresponding IP address. An Ip address is a 32-bit number that’s represented as four sets of decimal numbers separated by periods. The IP address is your domain’s actual address. The address is read from left to right, with the more specific information to the right. Let’s have an example IP 164.109.213.7 the 164.109 tells the informed reader that this part of the access.digex.net domain. When your data moves through the Internet , this address is kept in your datagram’s header. Armed with this information , therouters and DNS move your messages, connections, and data tramsfers through the net. This IP number is also your system unique address on the net.

10 .WWW Technology

Increasingly, forward-thinking organizations are taking advantage of the "Intranet" as a more cost-effective and efficient approach. The Intranet refers to the use of Internet WWW technology within the organization or the "intraprise" rather than for external connection to the Internet.

At the foundation of the Intranet is the World-Wide Web (WWW) server. Organizations with internal WWW sites store and update information electronically on a WWW server configured on a Local Area Network (LAN). As information changes, the server content can be easily updated with the new or revised data. This approach enables organizations to deliver timely, consistent, and accurate information to their employees worldwide -- without expensive typesetting, printing, distribution, mailing charges.

Depending on LAN configuration, an organization may have one or more internal WWW servers used as a central, internal clearing- house to manage and disseminate information within the intraprise. For example, a corporate WWW server accessible to every company employee may contain key information such as employee handbooks, internal newsletters, and stock plan descriptions. Multi-national companies may choose to set up a WWW site at each geographical location. And, depending on their size and specific needs, organizations may implement a combination of the above, with a corporate WWW server accessible to all employees, plus dedicated web servers for individual departments.

A secure WWW site offers numerous advantages for the internal exchange of highly confidential material. For example, since a WWW can be set up to restrict information to certain departments, e.g. Finance and HR or for geographically distributed departments to share information securely, using the Internet as the backbone. In such a scenario, the Corporate HR Department of a multi-national company based in Minneapolis can share salary planning information with its European HR Department in Paris.

In any case, a WWW server is easy to configure, use, and manage. Organizations can set up a Home Page for each department or functional area. And since the WWW server is configured on a LAN, it is well-suited to multi-media applications, such as video and audio requiring higher bandwidth capacity and performance, using Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, and ATM technologies over a Local Area Network.

Creating an internal web site is a low-cost, minimal riinvestment. It is easy to implement, with very little training or equipment required. The basic system configuration consists of a server hardware platform/operating system and WWW server software. Assuming that your organization already has client PCs in place, the client investment should be relatively small.

As a server platform, the rule of thumb is server hardware with sufficient memory and disk space to run Windows NT, Windows 95, and/or a UNIX system platform, depending on your preference and in-house expertise. You will also need to configure the hardware with LAN cards for TCP/IP connection over the network to the clients. Today, an increasing number of organizations are opting for Windows NT or

Windows 95 because of their open architecture and ease of use.

Web server software enables you to manage your internal WWW presence on the Intranet. The right WWW server software solution will give you the functionality required to setup and manage Home Pages, develop WWW content based on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), perform text searches, and integrate with internal corporate databases or backoffice applications.

On the client side, each user who plans to access the internal WWW site will need a 486 or Pentium-PC (or notebook) with a minimum of 8MB memory to run an NT or MS- Windows client browser. Typically, a commercial client browser costs less than $40, although freeware versions are also available. The client browser can launch a variety of applications, access disparate databases, retrieve information from across the Internet, etc.

WWW content software is also required to generate HTML code so that you can add HTML tags to convert your current MS-Word documents into WWW documents. It's very easy to develop content for the web using one of the many inexpensive, third-party HTML authoring tools and editors, including Microsoft's Internet Assistant (which is free of charge). Depending on your organization's requirements, you can also take advantage of numerous other commercial tools are also available, including graphics software and packages to convert FrameMaker documents to HTML, as well as text retrieval/indexing software, links to database management systems, and server configuration or management tools.

The Intranet market is just beginning to develop, as are many of the dynamic technologies and products that will facilitate its evolution. organizations with an existing TCP/IP internetwork infrastructure are implementing pilot projects utilizing Internet protocol suite technologies, and newly developed client/server Web technologies. In many organizations Web servers are popping up like weeds, uncontrolled by management, primarily because of easy access to public domain software (NCSA&CERN Web server software, etc.), and overall ease of implementation and use.

"80/ The evolution of enterprise intranets is creating a reversal of the traditional 20 rule" that has dominated network designs to date. This equation, a holdover from the days when disparate workgroup

LANs carried most of an organization's network traffic, maintained that 80 percent of a normal network's traffic was locally based, while the remaining 20 percent ran over the corporate backbone and across the WAN. With respect to addressing schemes and routers, the rule contends that 80 percent of traffic stays local to the subnet where it originated, while 20 percent "leaves" the subnet.

The explosive growth of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and enterprise intranets, however, is radically changing this pattern by bringing more and different subnets into play. In this new model, users are constantly accessing servers spread over many subnets and geographies rather than local servers designed to serve internal organizational needs. As a result, the 80/20 rule is being reversed, creating a situation where as much as 80 percent of network traffic is crossing subnet boundaries.

Unfortunately, this dramatic increase in intersubnet traffic requires a massive increase in routing horsepower to maintain effective communications across the enterprise. Downloading a Web page, for example, typically requires a number of trips across a network router. While this may be a simple enough task for one user downloading a single Web page, things become considerably more complicated when this activity grows to thousands of users downloading hundreds of Web pages. Handling this increased traffic load requires adopting a networking approach known as enterprise intranet switching.

The window or interface to the organizational Intranet will be key to its success. Intranet or Web interfaces, what we now call browsers, will greatly simplify access to and use of organizational computing resources and information by functioning as an omnipresent window or interface to applications and information. IDC estimates that approximately 56% of advanced Internet suites will be used primarily for Intranet access only, the CAGR for advanced Internet/Intranet suites is 39.7%, and is expected to reach US $134.1 million by 1996.

The bottom line difference between a WWW server and "collaborative" computing solutions such as Lotus Notes is design philosophy. Designed as a proprietary system in an era lacking widespread connectivity, Lotus Notes uses a proprietary database structure, which replicates data and does not provide quick access to remote databases. A WWW server, however, was designed to take advantage of the Internet's worldwide computer network; it eliminates the need to replicate databases by providing users with easy access to source data.

Another important difference is that a single WWW server platform can support Internal and external applications for both internal information- sharing and external marketing on the Internet. Notes, on the other hand, is purely an internal application.

Since the Intranet takes advantage of WWW open-standard technology, it offers a great starting point for corporations to disseminate information within the company efficiently and cost-effectively. Initial WWW startup costs and commitment are very low, with a minimal upfront investment or training. For example, an investment of less than $1K is estimated for site development (cf. multiple $10K commitment for Notes), a dedicated infrastructure or staff is not required, and it is extremely easy to migrate existing content to HTML.

According to a recent research study, the average corporate investment in a Lotus Notes implementation is $245,000, with an average payback period of more than two years. 80% of the respondents to this study targeted a single application. WWW applications can be fully developed and deployed for $10K or less. (Source: International Data Corporation).

The WWW enables users to centralize their information resources in a single point-and- click environment -- the browser -- which is available on a variety of client platforms (PC, Mac, Unix, etc).

The use of client browsers with one standard Window interface, offers the easy integration with other applications, such as electronic mail, faxes, calendaring, videoconferencing, and hot links within messages. As a single interface to a variety of information sources, the browser is cost-effective, highly efficient, and very easy to use.

While commercial browsers are priced under $40 per users, they are also available as fully functional freeware. Contrast this pricing with volume dollar pricing for Lotus Notes Express at $100 per user, with the full Notes client priced at $155.

Unlike the highly technical Notes environment, the WWW server can also be easily managed by "content creators" rather than IS professionals. The WWW point-and-click environment allows non-technical departments -- Marketing Communications or Marketing -- rather than the MIS Depto manage, contribute and update WWW content. This shift of responsibility helps reduce development costs, and enhances productivity by enabling the technical support staff to focus efforts on running the computer systems instead of maintaining server content.

It is less expensive to develop content for the web than for Notes. A wide variety of third-party content tools are available for the WWW server development, while the few Notes content development tools are those provided. Since familiar tools, such as Microsoft Word, can generate HTML code, support staff, rather than high-level, technical experts can easily create WWW content.

Content can be easily accessed by browsers on any platform, in any location. Unlike with Notes, data distribution is in realtime, on an as-requested basis, over a public (or private) network.

A WWW server can be easily integrated into an existing environment. For example, Process Software's Purveyor WebServer uses an Application Programming Interface (API) and hooks into ODBC-compliant databases to access a variety of external, pre-existing data sources. Purveyor supports easy drag-and-drop access to ODBC-compliant databases, a feature which was only while Notes Release 4 only recently began supporting this feature.

Authorized employees can easily access the WWW server remotely, after being authenticated, and download only the specific information required. This reduces expensive line charges ($25-$80 per month, per user, in the case of AT&T's Notes Network). For companies with existing connections to the Internet, the incremental cost is virtually zero.

The WWW can be adapted easily to multi-media applications. For example, video is an easy extension to the basic WWW platform, while video for Notes is an expensive one-way (no conferencing) proposition ($2,700 for the server license + $120 per client). On the WWW, using publicly available free or inexpensive utilities (CU SEE ME, Internet Phone, etc.), a corporation can deploy bidirectional desktop videoconferencing relatively inexpensively.

Can a current Notes installation recoup their total Notes investment, including startup, training, administration, and maintenance costs? While that may be difficult, current Notes installations can develop a strategy of coexistence to maintain their investment in the current content. For example, you can use Lotus InterNotes Publisher, a tool running on Windows NT that converts Notes documents into Web pages. InterNotes Web Publisher works with Lotus Notes to translate thousands of Notes documents into a series of Web HTML documents complete with graphics, file attachments, table formatting and document links. This tool provides a navigable structure for the Web site, i.e. Notes document links become Hypertext links, attachments to Notes documents are preserved and can be downloaded from a Web browser, Notes tables are converted into HTML tables; and bitmaps in Notes documents are converted into GIF files.

In sum, startup, training, ongoing management, and updating of web applications cost significantly less than that for the Notes installation. WWW applications broaden the reach of a "team" application to more than an enlightened highly technical few.

Not everyone needs the top-of-the line automobile model with all the bells and whistles, but in most cases a standard vehicle will be sufficient. Similarly, most organizations do not specifically require "collaborative" groupware applications, but instead need an easy, effective, fast, and inexpensive way to share information for a competitive business advantage.

The benefits offered by the Intranet include cost savings, minimal training, single source of data, links to outside datasources, and easy management and delivery of information. When you weigh these advantages, you will see that, for most organizations, they far outweigh the benefits of the information- handling capabilities of collaborative-groupware tools such as Notes.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Once we have created a problem or a condition we tend to follow suit with a solution or tool-set to address it. Intranets and the Web are such tool-sets. Emerging technologies tend to add to existing ones and do not replace them. Intranets and electronic commerce are a new way of doing things - adding to the existing ways, and find their own new, unique, applications. They will change the way we do some things and they are here to stay. How else would we be able to run our more and more complex world?
"Man like marvellous things; so he invents them, and is astonished" - Edgar Watson Howe

The application of Internet technologies in an Intranet setting can dramatically increase the flow and value of information within an organization. Users can gain quick and timely access to a much wider variety of existing information residing in a variety of original forms and sources, ranging from word processing files, to databases, Lotus Notes, and other resources. In addition, traditional paper-based information distribution can be displaced by Intranet applications, lowering costs and increasing the timeliness of information flow.

Finally, Intranet applications can start as small "pilots" and scale upwards over time, gradually providing or facilitating access to an increasing breadth of information, thus improving both employee productivity and satisfaction, and ultimately bolstering the company's competitive advantage.