Internet
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...
Since its early years, attendance at Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) face-to-face meetings has grown phenomenally. Many of the
...
... STDs. BCPs make recommendations for Best
Current Practices in the Internet; RFCs are the IETF's main technical
documentation series, politely known as "Requests for Comments"; FYIs
...
...
The Internet Engineering Task Force is a loosely self-organized group
of people who contribute to the engineering and evolution of Internet ...
... Internet Engineering Task Force is a loosely self-organized group
of people who contribute to the engineering and evolution of Internet
technologies. It is the principal body engaged in the development of
...
... technologies. It is the principal body engaged in the development of
new Internet standard specifications. The IETF is unusual in that it
exists as a collection of happenings, but is not a corporation and
...
...
o Identifying, and proposing solutions to, pressing operational and
technical problems in the Internet
o Specifying the development or usage of protocols and the near-term
...
... o Specifying the development or usage of protocols and the near-term
architecture to solve such technical problems for the Internet
o Making recommendations to the Internet Engineering Steering Group ...
... Internet
o Making recommendations to the Internet Engineering Steering Group
(IESG) regarding the standardization of protocols and protocol
...
... (IESG) regarding the standardization of protocols and protocol
usage in the Internet
o Facilitating technology transfer from the Internet Research Task
Force ...
... Internet
o Facilitating technology transfer from the Internet Research Task
Force (IRTF) to the wider Internet community
...
... o Facilitating technology transfer from the Internet Research Task
Force (IRTF) to the wider Internet community
o Providing a forum for the exchange of information within the
...
...
o Providing a forum for the exchange of information within the
Internet community between vendors, users, researchers, agency
...
... membership policies, IETF members come from all over the world and
from many different parts of the Internet industry. See Section 4.11
for information about the ways that many people fit into the IETF.
...
... One more thing that is important for newcomers: the IETF in no way
"runs the Internet", despite what some people mistakenly might say.
The IETF makes standards that are often adopted by Internet ...
... Internet", despite what some people mistakenly might say.
The IETF makes standards that are often adopted by Internet users,
but it does not control, or even patrol, the Internet. If your
...
... IETF makes standards that are often adopted by Internet users,
but it does not control, or even patrol, the Internet. If your
interest in the IETF is because you want to be part of the overseers,
...
... IETF universe. The
IAB (then Internet Activities Board, now Internet Architecture
Board), which until that time oversaw many "task forces", changed its
...
... IAB (then Internet Activities Board, now Internet Architecture
Board), which until that time oversaw many "task forces", changed its
structure to leave only two: the IETF ...
... IRTF. The IRTF is
tasked to consider long-term research problems in the Internet. The
IETF also changed at that time.
...
... IETF also changed at that time.
After the Internet Society (ISOC) was formed in January 1992, the IAB
...
... ISOC that the IAB's activities should take place under
the auspices of the Internet Society. During INET92 in Kobe, Japan,
the ISOC Trustees approved a new charter for the IAB ...
... ISOC (Internet Society) ...
...
The Internet Society is an international, non-profit, membership
organization that fosters the expansion of the Internet. One of the
...
... The Internet Society is an international, non-profit, membership
organization that fosters the expansion of the Internet. One of the
ways that ISOC does this is through financial and legal support of
...
... groups wants to say something to the press. The ISOC is
one of the major unsung (and under-supported) heroes of the Internet.
Starting ...
... services (the
secretariat, IANA (the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), and the
RFC Editor, which are described later in this section), and the
budget. He or she (currently it's a he) leads the IETF
Administrative Support Activity ...
... IESG (Internet Engineering Steering Group) ...
... technical management of IETF activities
and the Internet standards process. It administers the process
according to the rules and procedures that have been ratified by the
ISOC ...
...
Because the IESG has a great deal of influence on whether Internet
Drafts become RFCs, many people look at the ADs as somewhat godlike
creatures. IETF participants sometimes reverently ask Area Directors ...
... WGs in that area than anyone else. On the other
hand, the entire IESG reviews each Internet Draft that is proposed to
become an RFC. Any AD may record a "DISCUSS" ballot position against
...
... moves in a reactive fashion. It eventually approves most WG requests
for Internet Drafts to become RFCs, and usually only steps in when
something has gone very wrong. Another way to think about this is
that the ADs are selected to think, not to just run the process. The
...
... IAB (Internet Architecture Board) ...
... The IAB is responsible for keeping an eye on the "big picture" of the
Internet, and it focuses on long-range planning and coordination
among the various areas of IETF ...
... IETF activity. The IAB stays informed
about important long-term issues in the Internet, and it brings these
topics to the attention of people it thinks should know about them.
The IAB ...
...
The IAB also sponsors and organizes the Internet Research Task Force
and convenes invitational workshops that provide in-depth reviews of
specific Internet ...
... Internet Research Task Force
and convenes invitational workshops that provide in-depth reviews of
specific Internet architectural issues. Typically, the workshop
reports make recommendations to the IETF community and to the IESG ...
... IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) ...
... IETF's activities is the IANA. Many
Internet protocols require that someone keep track of protocol items
that were added after the protocol came out. Typical examples of the
kinds of registries ...
... IANA's activities are financially supported by ICANN, the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
Ten years ago, no one would have expected to see the IANA ...
... IETF
participants will testify to how important IANA has been for the
Internet. Having a stable, long-term repository run by careful and
conservative operators makes it much easier for people to experiment
without worrying about messing things up. IANA ...
... IANA's founder, Jon
Postel, was heavily relied upon to keep things in order while the
Internet kept growing by leaps and bounds, and he did a fine job of
it until his untimely death in 1998.
...
...
The RFC Editor edits, formats, and publishes Internet Drafts as RFCs,
working in conjunction with the IESG ...
... WG mailing lists). The
Secretariat is also responsible for keeping the official Internet
Drafts directory up to date and orderly, maintaining the IETF web
site, and helping the IESG ...
... mailto:i-d-
announce@ietf.org, announces each new version of every Internet Draft
as it is published.
...
... IETF discussion list is unmoderated. This means that all can
express their opinions about issues affecting the Internet. However,
it is not a place for companies or individuals to solicit or
...
... IETF meetings is
the use of wireless Internet connections throughout the meeting
space. It is common to see people in a WG ...
... meeting sessions. There is often good wireless Internet coverage in
many places of the meeting venue (restaurants, coffee shops, and so
on), so catching up on email ...
... Secretariat provides hard copies of the slides of the "IETF Structure
and Internet Standards Process" presentation -- these very useful
slides are also available online at www.ietf.org under "Educational
Materials".
...
... One of the most important (depending on your point of view) things
the host does is provide Internet access for the meeting attendees.
In general, wired and wireless connectivity is excellent. This is
...
... bad places to go if your intention is to find out what will be hot in
the Internet industry next year. You can safely assume that going to
Working Group meetings will confuse you more than it will help you
...
... specific people who are responsible for technologies that are under
development in the IETF. As these people read the current Internet
Drafts and the traffic on the relevant Working Group lists, they will
...
... completely appropriate for vendors to attend. If you create Internet
hardware or software, and no one from your company ...
... at the meeting. Similarly, it isn't required, or likely useful, for
everyone from a technical department to go, particularly if they are
not all reading the Internet Drafts and following the Working Group
mailing lists ...
... efforts and a standards strategy. If a company depends on the
Internet for some or all of its business, the strategy should
probably cover the IETF.
...
... independent drafts (at the discretion of the WG chair). Procedures
for Internet Drafts are covered in much more detail later in this
document.
...
... The most important thing that everyone (newcomers and seasoned
experts) should do before coming to a face-to-face meeting is to read
the Internet Drafts and RFCs ahead of time. WG meetings are
explicitly not for education: they are for developing the group ...
... their mail on slow connections when they travel), so shorter messages
are greatly appreciated. Documents can be posted as Internet Drafts;
presentation material can be posted to a web site controlled by the
...
... do the work needed in order to create standards. Some BOFs have
Internet Drafts already in process, whereas others start from
scratch.
...
... RFCs and Internet Drafts ...
... If you're a new IETF participant and are looking for a particular RFC
or Internet Draft, go to the RFC Editor's web pages, http://www.rfc-
editor.org/rfc.html. That site also has links to other RFC
...
... of the RFC you're looking for, go to the IETF RFC pages,
http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html. For Internet Drafts, the best resource
is the IETF web site ...
... but everyone just calls them RFCs), and every RFC starts out as an
Internet Draft (often called an "I-D"). The basic steps for getting
something published as an IETF standard are as follows:
...
... IETF standard are as follows:
1. Publish the document as an Internet Draft.
2. Receive comments on the draft.
...
... A much more complete explanation of these steps is contained in
[BCP9], "The Internet Standards Process". Those who write drafts
that they hope will become IETF standards must read BCP ...
... o Draft standards
o Internet standards (sometimes called "full standards")
o Informational documents
...
... long time. Best Current Practice documents describe the application
of various technologies in the Internet. The STD RFC sub-series was
created ...
... STD RFC sub-series was
created to identify RFCs that do in fact specify Internet standards.
Some STDs are actually sets of more than one RFC, and the "standard"
...
...
Incidentally, the change control on Internet standards doesn't end
when the protocol is put on the standards track. The protocol itself
can be changed later for a number of reasons, the most common of
...
...
IETF standards exist so that people will use them to write Internet
programs that interoperate. They don't exist to document the
(possibly wonderful) ideas of their authors, nor do they exist so
...
... Internet Drafts ...
... First things first. Every document that ends up in the RFC
repository starts life as an Internet Draft. Internet Drafts are
tentative documents -- they're meant for readers to comment on, so
...
... repository starts life as an Internet Draft. Internet Drafts are
tentative documents -- they're meant for readers to comment on, so
authors can mull over those comments and decide which ones to
...
... authors can mull over those comments and decide which ones to
incorporate in the draft. In order to remind folks of their
tentativeness, Internet Drafts are automatically removed from the
online directories after six months. They are most definitely not
...
... BCP9] says:
"An Internet Draft is NOT a means of 'publishing' a specification;
specifications are published through the RFC mechanism.... Internet
Drafts have no formal status, and are subject ...
... "An Internet Draft is NOT a means of 'publishing' a specification;
specifications are published through the RFC mechanism.... Internet
Drafts have no formal status, and are subject to change or removal at
any time. Under no circumstances should an Internet Draft ...
... Internet
Drafts have no formal status, and are subject to change or removal at
any time. Under no circumstances should an Internet Draft be
referenced by any paper, report, or Request-for-Proposal, nor should
a vendor ...
... referenced by any paper, report, or Request-for-Proposal, nor should
a vendor claim compliance with an Internet Draft".
You can always tell a person who doesn't understand the IETF ...
... IETF (or is
intentionally trying to fool people) when he or she brags about
having published an Internet Draft; it takes no significant effort.
When you submit an Internet Draft ...
... Internet Draft; it takes no significant effort.
When you submit an Internet Draft, you give some publication rights
to the IETF. This is so that your Internet Draft ...
... Internet Draft, you give some publication rights
to the IETF. This is so that your Internet Draft is freely available
to everyone who wants to read and comment on it. The rights you do
and don't give to the IETF ...
... tools/idnits/idnits.pyht. Using this tool
before you turn in an Internet Draft will help prevent the draft from
being rejected due to errors in form and formatting.
...
... Internet Draft.
An Internet Draft can be either a Working Group draft or an
individual submission. Working Group ...
... draft as it makes its way through the publication process.
There are some informal rules for Internet Draft naming that have
evolved over the years. Internet Drafts that revise existing RFCs
...
... There are some informal rules for Internet Draft naming that have
evolved over the years. Internet Drafts that revise existing RFCs
often have draft names with "bis" in them, meaning "again" or
"twice"; for example, a draft might be called "draft-someone-
...
...
Before you create the first draft of your Internet Draft, you should
read four documents:
...
... o More important than just explaining formatting, [RFC2223] also
explains what needs to be in an Internet Draft before it can
become an RFC. This document describes all the sections and
notices that will need to be in your document, and it's good to
...
...
o [BCP22], "Guide for Internet Standards Writers", provides tips
that will help you write a standard that leads to
interoperability ...
... state diagrams.
o The online "Guidelines to Authors of Internet Drafts",
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-guidelines.txt, has up-to-date
information about the process for turning in Internet Drafts ...
... Internet Drafts",
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-guidelines.txt, has up-to-date
information about the process for turning in Internet Drafts, as
well as the most current boilerplate information that has to be
included in each Internet Draft ...
... Internet Drafts, as
well as the most current boilerplate information that has to be
included in each Internet Draft.
o When you think you are finished with the draft process and are
...
... o When you think you are finished with the draft process and are
ready to request that the draft become an RFC, you should
definitely read "Checklist for Internet Drafts (I-Ds) Submitted
for RFC Publication", http://www.ietf.org/ID-Checklist.html, a
list of common issues that have been known to stop documents in
...
...
When you're ready to turn in your Internet Draft, send it to the
Internet Drafts administrator ...
... When you're ready to turn in your Internet Draft, send it to the
Internet Drafts administrator at mailto:internet-drafts ...
... Internet Drafts administrator at mailto:internet-drafts@ietf.org.
There is a real person at the other end of this mail address, whose
...
... address, whose
job is to make sure you've included the minimum items you need for
the Internet Draft to be published. When you submit the first
version of the draft, you also tell the draft administrator ...
... Working Group, such
as "draft-smith-smime-keying-00.txt". You are welcome to suggest
names; however, it is up to the Internet Drafts administrator (and,
if it is an official WG draft ...
... versions, such as when a personal effort is pulled into a Working
Group; when a draft has its filename changed, the number reverts to
-00. Be sure to let the Internet Drafts administrator know the
previous name of the draft when such a name change occurs so that the
...
... The procedure for creating and advancing a standard is described in
[BCP9]. After an Internet Draft has been sufficiently discussed and
there is rough consensus that what it says would be a useful
...
...
If the IESG approves the draft to become an Internet standard, they
ask the RFC Editor to publish it as a Proposed standard. After it
...
... A few years after a document has been a Draft standard, it can become
an Internet standard, also known as "full standard" (it can happen in
as little as four months, but this is rare). This doesn't happen
...
... as little as four months, but this is rare). This doesn't happen
often, and it is usually reserved for protocols that are absolutely
required for the Internet to function. The IESG goes over the
document with a fine-tooth comb and looks for evidence of widespread
...
... [STD3], "Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Application and Support",
written way back in 1989, had a short list of words that had appeared
...
... RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", which is widely referenced in
current Internet standards. BCP 14 also specifically defines "must
not" and "should not", and it lists a few synonyms for the words
...
... discussion in many WGs. When
reviewing an Internet Draft, the question is often raised, "Should
that sentence have a MUST or a SHOULD in it?" This is, indeed, a
very good question, because specifications shouldn't have gratuitous
...
... IETF standard may make a normative reference to any other standards-track RFC that is at the same standards level or higher, or to any "open standard" that has been developed outside the IETF. The "same level or higher" rule means that before a standard can move from Proposed to Draft, all of the RFCs for which
there is a normative reference must also be at Draft or Internet standard. This rule gives implementors assurance that everything in a Draft standard or Internet standard ...
... Internet standard. This rule gives implementors assurance that everything in a Draft standard or Internet standard is quite stable, even the things referenced outside the standard. This can also delay the publication of the Draft or Internet standard by many months (sometimes even years) while the other documents catch up.
There is no hard-and-fast rule about what is an "open standard", but generally this means a stable standard that anyone can get a copy of (although they might have to pay for it) and that was made by a generally recognized standards group ...
There is no hard-and-fast rule about what is an "open standard", but generally this means a stable standard that anyone can get a copy of (although they might have to pay for it) and that was made by a generally recognized standards group ...
... implementors assurance that everything in a Draft standard or Internet standard is quite stable, even the things referenced outside the standard. This can also delay the publication of the Draft or Internet standard by many months (sometimes even years) while the other documents catch up.
There is no hard-and-fast rule about what is an "open standard", but generally this means a stable standard that anyone can get a copy of (although they might have to pay for it) and that was made by a generally recognized standards group. If the external standard changes, you have to reference the particular instantiation of that standard in your specification, as with a designation of the date of
...
There is no hard-and-fast rule about what is an "open standard", but generally this means a stable standard that anyone can get a copy of (although they might have to pay for it) and that was made by a generally recognized standards group. If the external standard changes, you have to reference the particular instantiation of that standard in your specification, as with a designation of the date of
...
... will decide what is to be registered, and so on.
Anyone writing an Internet standard that may need a new IANA registry
or new values in a current IANA registry ...
...
One thing that's required in every RFC and Internet Draft is a
"Security Considerations" section. This section should describe any
...
... patents).
If you are writing an Internet Draft and you know of a patent that
applies to the technology you're writing about, don't list the patent
in the document. Instead, consult the IETF ...
... removed due
to lack of current use, or that more recent thinking indicates the
technology is actually harmful to the Internet.)
The role ...
...
*Read* -- Review the Internet Drafts in your area of expertise and
comment on them in the Working Groups. Participate in the discussion ...
... Working Groups. Participate in the discussion
in a friendly, helpful fashion, with the goal being the best Internet
standards possible. Listen much more than you speak. If you
disagree, debate the technical issues: never attack the people.
...
... attack the people.
*Implement* -- Write programs that use the current Internet
standards. The standards aren't worth much unless they are available
to Internet users. Implement even the "minor" standards, since they
...
... *Implement* -- Write programs that use the current Internet
standards. The standards aren't worth much unless they are available
to Internet users. Implement even the "minor" standards, since they
will become less minor if they appear in more software. Report any
problems you find with the standards to the appropriate Working Group ...
... running code.
*Write* -- Edit or co-author Internet Drafts in your area of
expertise. Do this for the benefit of the Internet community, not to
...
... *Write* -- Edit or co-author Internet Drafts in your area of
expertise. Do this for the benefit of the Internet community, not to
get your name (or, even worse, your company's name) on a document.
...
... company to make the patent available at
no cost to everyone who is implementing the standard. In the past
few years, patents have caused a lot of serious problems for Internet
standards because they prevent some companies from being able to
freely implement the standards. Fortunately, many companies ...
... ISOC. More important, urge any company
that has benefited from the Internet to become a corporate member of
ISOC, since this has the greatest financial benefit for the group ...
... ISOC, since this has the greatest financial benefit for the group.
It will, of course, also benefit the Internet as a whole.
...
... IETF does not exist in a standards vacuum. There are many (perhaps
too many) other standards organizations whose decisions affect the
Internet. There are also a fair number of standards bodies that
ignored the Internet for a long time and now want to get a piece of
...
... Internet. There are also a fair number of standards bodies that
ignored the Internet for a long time and now want to get a piece of
the action.
...
... Given that the IETF is one of the best-known bodies that is helping
move the Internet forward, it's natural for the computer press (and
even the trade press) to want to cover its actions. In recent years,
a small number of magazines have assigned reporters and editors to
...
... IETF in depth over a long period of time. These reporters
have ample scars from articles that they got wrong, incorrect
statements about the status of Internet Drafts, quotes from people
who are unrelated to the IETF work, and so on.
...
... Major press errors fall into two categories: saying that the IETF is
considering something when in fact there is just an Internet Draft in
a Working Group, and saying that the IETF ...
... year can be a good thing. However, it is the rare reporter who can
resist over-hyping a nascent protocol as the next savior for the
Internet. Such stories do much more harm than good, both for the
readers of the article and for the IETF.
...
... Security
Considerations section and gives some idea of what it should and
should not contain. Other than that information, this document does
not touch on Internet security.
...
... IETF Proceedings
iana@iana.org Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org RFC Editor
...
...
Online upload pages are planned for the future to facilitate
submission of Internet Drafts, Proceedings, and Liaison statements.
...
... web site, http://www.ietf.org, is the best source for
information about meetings, Working Groups, Internet Drafts, RFCs,
IETF email addresses ...
... email addresses, and much more. Click on "Additional
Information" to find a variety of helpful links. Internet Drafts and
other documents are also available in the "ietf" directory on
anonymous FTP ...
... FYI For Your Information (RFC)
IAB Internet Architecture Board
IAD IETF Administrative Director ...
... IETF Administrative Director
IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
IAOC IETF Administrative Oversight Committee ...
... IETF Administrative Support Activity
ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers, http://www.icann.org/
I-D Internet Draft
...
... ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers, http://www.icann.org/
I-D Internet Draft
IESG Internet Engineering Steering Group ...
... http://www.ietf.org/iesg.html
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force,
http://www.ietf.org/
INET Internet Society ...
... Internet Engineering Task Force,
http://www.ietf.org/
INET Internet Society Conference,
http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/inet/
IPR ...
... http://www.jtc1.org/
ISOC Internet Society, http://www.isoc.org
ITU International Telecommunication Union ...
... P16. WGs should be primarily responsible for assessing the negative
impact of their work on the Internet as a whole, and therefore
for obtaining cross-area review; the IETF leadership ...
... Internet Architecture Board and B. Carpenter, "Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)", BCP ...
... Internet Architecture Board and B. Carpenter, "Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)", BCP 39, RFC 2850 ...
... Braden, R., "Requirements for Internet Hosts - Application and Support", STD 3, RFC 1123std3 ...
...
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
This document is subject ...
... AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
...
... OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
INFORMATION ...