What are the advantages and disadvantages of using an intranet compared to the Internet (VPS) in terms of scalability and availability of projects?
The boss wants to place web projects on the intranet to ensure data security. However, the project requires scalability and connectivity to other projects on the internet. The boss is concerned that data on a VPS could be hacked, but where is the guarantee that data on the intranet won't also be stolen? Connection to the intranet may be limited or difficult. How sensible is it to store data on separate servers if new projects are added in the future and synchronization is required? Will the internet then need to be connected to the intranet?
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An intranet cannot be accessed outside and communication to the outside should not happen. An intranet page is at best a solution to exchange data and collect data within the company. There is also the concept Extranet. An extranet can be accessed from the outside for employees.
So if there are needs to increase data security, an intranet page is an approach that you can use to implement this.
Another ambition is to tunnel a company computer and create a network tunnel to the company network. An intranet page can then also be provided here. This does not necessarily make this safer because the terminal could also be attacked.
In principle, servers in the intranet tend to be safer because many attack vectors are already falling away due to the fact that it is only accessible within the company. Once we only talk about SSH access to the VPS itself, the obvious problem is that it is accessible from the entire internet. If you correctly configure the server (in particular disable login by password and switch to SSH keys); Firewall may be configured in such a way that you can only reach the server from the company network or with a corresponding VPN), but this risk is practically eliminated.
The same does not apply to the applications running on the server. If these have a vulnerability, they may be used without access to the company network. In VPS, it should also be noted that it is managed by a hypervisor running on the actual physical server. If the host machine is compressed, this can seriously affect your VPS. But this is extremely unlikely, especially if you choose a trusted hosting company.
Basically, however, every system is only as safe as its weakest place, and in most cases it will be an employee of the company. If an incorrect email attachment is opened, the entire corporate network, including Intranet servers and external VPS, can be compressed.
VPS are generally cheaper in the short term than their own physical servers and their electricity costs, but this changes over a longer term. As you have already mentioned, VPS can be scaled faster because you can hire new servers from the hosting provider at any time. Whether this is necessary depends on your requirements and company growth.
Not completely, but you should then have access to the corresponding servers from outside, which naturally makes the infrastructure a little more tangible. The alternative would be to buy new physical servers and integrate them into the intranet.