Simplicable Guide

5 Examples of a Private Network

John Spacey, March 14, 2017

A private network is a network that is isolated from the internet and other public networks. The following are common examples.

Office Network

Office networks are commonly private in that devices on the network can't be viewed from the outside. In most cases, outbound internet connections are allowed but these connections are restricted. An office computer might be able to establish an outbound connection to an ecommerce site. However, if the ecommerce site tries to establish an inbound connection to the computer it would be blocked.

Home Network

It is common to set up small networks at home such as a wifi network to share resources such as files.

Data Centers

Organizations commonly run business software and backend services from private networks. For example, banking systems that process settlements are unlikely to be directly connected to the public internet.

Critical Infrastructure

Critical infrastructure such as nuclear power facilities may not connect to the internet at all to minimize information security risks.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A virtual private network is software that encrypts communications over the internet so that it is reasonably private and secure. For example, if an employee works from home they would typically connect to the office using a VPN.

Overview: Private Network
Type	Networking
Definition	A network that is isolated from the internet and other public networks.
Related Concepts	Information Security Intranet Overlay Network Networking