wazmac || School Intranets

School Intranets - Tech Basics

Intranets - Some Introductory Technical Stuff

Information on an Intranet is exchanged between computers throughout a school campus using the TCP/IP protocol (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).

Each computer on an Intranet network has a Web browser installed (such as Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc). The default Home page of the browser is configured (in the browser's preferences) to display a web page stored on another computer on the local network (the "web server"), rather than displaying a page from the Internet.

A computer which stores information that is being accessed by other computers on a network is known as a server. If the server is storing and distributing web pages it is know as a Web Server, if it is storing and distributing mail it is known as a Mail Server, etc.

In a small school, a web server that is serving web pages to an Intranet can easily be an ordinary desktop computer. In a larger school, the server is likely to be a dedicated computer with higher specifications than other computers on the network.

In either case the server will need some software installed and configured, to be able undertake its role as a web server.

In a small network this can be as simple as enabling the standard Web Sharing facility already built-in to the operating system. In a larger setting it may involve configuring the Web Server element of a dedicated file server.

Either way, it is very easy to get happening!

How do I get started?

Do This....		Useful Resources - How, Where

1.	Create some web pages using a web publishing program such as iWeb, FrontPage, or Mozilla Composer.	- Use iWeb (Mac - part of iLife), or - Use FrontPage (MS Software), or - Download SeaMonkey (free) and - Download a Sample Intranet Template

2.	Save the web pages that you have created to a web server - a networked computer which has web serving software installed. (All Mac and Windows computers have basic web sharing software built-in).	- Check with your network support personnel if you already have a local web server. - See Wazza's Intranet Server Page for some server setup QuickStart documents to set up a Web Server.

3.	Check that the web server has a "static" IP address, and that each computer which is to be a part of the Intranet has a compatible IP address. (This is setup in the Network System Preferences or Control Panel, and is already likely to be setup correctly in most schools).	Check with your network support personnel that: - there is an available IP address for a server; - that the address is in a range that is not likely to be used by someone else in the near future; - the address is recorded for future reference.

4.	Turn on Web Sharing on the server. In the Web Sharing control panel or Web Server admin program, identify the default home page - ie. the main web page in the site that you have created.	- Check with your network support personnel if you already have a local web server, and any config required for an intranet; - See Wazza's Intranet Server Page for some server setup QuickStart documents.

5.	Setup the web browser on each computer on the Intranet so that the default home page is the IP address of the web server.	See Wazza's Intranet Client Page for some client setup QuickStart documents.

6.	You should now be able to "browse" the web pages you have created and stored on the web server from any computer correctly configured on the network.	View a Sample Intranet Intranet site for Somewhere PS. View a Sample Student Intranet site.

7.	Any links to other "external" web sites will also connect directly to that site if your browser is correctly configured for Internet access.	Read about proxy servers, used (as an option) to increase the "speed" of your network access to commonly visited web sites.

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