What does external network and internal network mean?

The internal network refers to the local area network, and the external network refers to the wide area network. Intranet, also known as local area network, refers to a network composed of multiple computers and network equipment in a certain area, such as campus network, government network, etc., generally covering a radius of several kilometers. External network, also known as wide area network and public network, is a remote network that connects computer communications in local area networks or metropolitan area networks in different regions; external network usually spans a large physical range, covering a range from dozens to thousands of kilometers.

#The operating environment of this article: windows10 system, thinkpad t480 computer.

The internal network generally refers to the local area network, and the external network generally refers to the wide area network.

What is an intranet

An intranet, also known as Local Area Network (LAN), refers to a network consisting of multiple computers and computers in a certain area. Networks composed of network equipment, such as campus networks, government networks, etc., generally have a radius of several kilometers.

That is, a local area network refers to a computer group composed of multiple computers interconnected in a certain area. Generally within a radius of several kilometers. LAN can realize functions such as file management, application software sharing, printer sharing, scheduling within work groups, email and fax communication services, etc. A local area network is closed and can consist of two computers in an office or thousands of computers in a company.

The main characteristics of the local area network are:

• The geographical coverage is small, and it is only connected within a relatively independent local area

• Use specially laid transmission media for networking, with high data transmission rate (10Mb/s~10Gb/s);

• Short communication delay time and high reliability;

• Local area networks can support a variety of transmission media;

The intranet we often refer to is literally different from the external network, that is It is said that the intranet is generally used for communication between computers within the LAN. If you need to access the Internet, you need to use the external network.

What is the external network?

Wide area network, also known as public network. It is a remote network that connects computer communications in local area networks or metropolitan area networks in different areas. It usually spans a large physical range, covering a range from tens to thousands of kilometers. It can connect multiple regions, cities and countries, or span several states and provide long-distance communications, forming an international network. remote network. WAN is not the same as the Internet.

The difference between internal network and external network

1. The difference between ip address setting , generally the intranet has its own IP number range, and it will not conflict with the Internet number range. The intranet starts from the router, and the IPs start with 192. Generally, you cannot have an external network IP, because using the external network for individuals or small groups is a waste of resources, so they generally access the Internet through the intranet. External network IPs are generally used for companies, schools and other institutions.

2. Internal network computers need a unified exit to connect to the external network, which may restrict some unnecessary access. However, the external network can access the Internet without a router or switch and can be directly accessed by the outside world. , directly connected to the computer without any equipment.

3. Compared with the external network, the internal network will have an extra layer of security firewall (external network routing). Relatively speaking, the ability to resist attacks from the external network will be better; the disadvantage of the internal network is that it may be attacked Attacks from within; because bandwidth needs to be shared, the relative network speed may be slower (the more terminals, the slower).

4. The IP of the internal network can be changed frequently and you can define the rules yourself; while the IP of the external network is generally fixed. When you install the broadband, your IP will be fixed.

Extended knowledge: NAT technology

NAT technology converts private addresses into public network addresses so that hosts in the intranet can access the Internet through a small number of public network addresses

(Learning video sharing: Introduction to Programming)

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