In computer network A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices connected by communications channels that facilitates communications among users and allows users to share resources with other users. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. This article provides a general engineering Engineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific, and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or invention, an Internet Standard (STD) is a normative specification A specification is an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a material, product, or service. Should a material, product or service fail to meet one or more of the applicable specifications, it may be referred to as being out of specification; the abbreviation OOS may also be used of a technology or methodology applicable to the Internet The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by a broad array of electronic and. Internet Standards are created and published by the Internet Engineering Task Force The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite. It is an open standards organization, with no formal membership or membership requirements. All participants and managers are (IETF).
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Overview
An Internet Standard A technical standard is an established norm or requirement. It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes and practices. In contrast, a custom, convention, company product, corporate standard, etc. which becomes generally accepted and dominant is often called a de facto standard is a special Request for Comments In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems (RFC) or set of RFCs. An RFC that is to become a Standard or part of a Standard begins as an Internet Draft Internet Drafts is a series of working documents published by the IETF. Typically, they are drafts for RFCs, but may be other works in progress not intended for publication as RFCs. It is considered inappropriate to rely on Internet Drafts for reference purposes. I-D citations should indicate the I-D is a "work in progress", and is later (usually after several revisions) accepted and published by the RFC Editor In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems as a RFC and labeled a Proposed Standard. Later, an RFC is labelled a Draft Standard, and finally a Standard. Collectively, these stages are known as the standards track, and are defined in RFC 2026. The label Historic (sic) is applied to deprecated standards-track documents or obsolete RFCs that were published before the standards track was established.
Only the IETF The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite. It is an open standards organization, with no formal membership or membership requirements. All participants and managers are, represented by the Internet Engineering Steering Group It provides the final technical review of Internet standards and is responsible for day-to-day management of the IETF. It receives appeals of the decisions of the working groups, and the IESG makes the decision to progress documents in the standards track (IESG), can approve standards-track RFCs. The definitive list of Internet Standards is maintained in Internet Standards document STD 1: Internet Official Protocol Standards.[1]
Standardization process
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Becoming a standard is a three step process within the IETF called Proposed Standards, Draft Standards and finally Internet Standards. If an RFC is part of a proposal that is on the standard track, then at the first stage, the standard is proposed and subsequently organizations decide whether to implement this Proposed Standard. After three separate implementations, more review and corrections are made to the RFC, and a Draft Standard is created. At the final stage, the RFC becomes a Standard.
Proposed Standard
A Proposed Standard (PS) is generally stable, has resolved known design choices, is believed to be well-understood, has received significant community review, and appears to enjoy enough community interest to be considered valuable. However, further experience might result in a change or even retraction of the specification before it advances. Usually, neither implementation nor operational experience is required.
Draft Standard
A specification from which at least two independent and interoperable implementations from different code bases have been developed, and for which sufficient successful operational experience has been obtained, may be elevated to the Draft Standard (DS) level.
A Draft Standard is normally considered to be a final specification, and changes are likely to be made only to solve specific problems encountered. In most circumstances, it is reasonable for vendors to deploy implementations of Draft Standards into a disruption sensitive environment.
Standard
A specification for which significant implementation and successful operational experience has been obtained may be elevated to the Internet Standard (STD) level. An Internet Standard, which may simply be referred to as a Standard, is characterized by a high degree of technical maturity and by a generally held belief that the specified protocol or service provides significant benefit to the Internet community.
Generally Internet Standards cover interoperability of systems on the internet through defining protocols, messages formats, schemas, and languages. The most fundamental of the Standards are the ones defining the Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol is a protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite, also referred to as TCP/IP.
All Internet Standards are given a number in the STD series - The first document in this series, STD 1, describes the remaining documents in the series, and has a list of Proposed Standards.
Each RFC is static; if the document is changed, it is submitted again and assigned a new RFC number. If an RFC becomes an Internet Standard (STD), it is assigned an STD number but retains its RFC number. When an Internet Standard is updated, its number stays the same and it simply refers to a different RFC or set of RFCs. A given Internet Standard, STD n, may be RFCs x and y at a given time, but later the same standard may be updated to be RFC z instead. For example, in 2007 RFC 3700 was an Internet Standard—STD 1—and in May 2008 it was replaced with RFC 5000, so RFC 3700 changed to Historic status, and now[update] STD 1 is RFC 5000. When STD 1 is updated again, it will simply refer to a newer RFC, but it will still be STD 1. Note that not all RFCs are standards-track documents, but all Internet Standards and other standards-track documents are RFCs.[2]
See also
- Standardization Standardization or standardisation is the process of developing and agreeing upon technical standards. A standard is a document that establishes uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices. Some standards are mandatory while others are voluntary. Voluntary standards are available if one chooses to
- Splinternet
References
- ^ "Internet Official Protocol Standards (STD 1)" (plain text). RFC Editor. May 2008. ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/std/std1.txt. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ^ Huitema, C.; Postel, J.; Crocker, S. (April 1995). "Not All RFCs are Standards (RFC 1796)". The Internet Engineering Task Force. http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1796. Retrieved 2008-05-25. "[E]ach RFC has a status…: Informational, Experimental, or Standards Track (Proposed Standard, Draft Standard, Internet Standard), or Historic."
The Internet Standards Process is defined in a "Best Current Practice" document BCP 9 (currently[update] RFC 2026).
External links
- RFC 5000 is the current Request For Comments In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems that specifies Internet Official Protocol Standards. It is, in itself, also an Internet Standard, STD 1.
- List of Official Internet Protocol Standards including “historic”, proposed, draft, obsolete, and experimental standards, plus all of the "Best Current Practices."
- List of Full Standard RFCs In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems
- Internet Architecture Board
- Internet Engineering Steering Group
- Internet Engineering Task Force
- RFC Editor
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