1 A short introduction to the IETF Harald Alvestrand IETF chair Harald Alvestrand IETF chair

22 IETF History

3 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Historical developer of Internet-related protocols Consortium of individuals from Research, Education, Network operators, and Internet vendors

4 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Changed IETF composition and roles Attendance ActualAvg.. Vendor/International Research/Education primarily US

5 Internettdagerna Oct 24, USA 71.6% Other 5.5% JAPAN 7.6% Sweden 1.8% Germany 1.9% France 2.0% Canada 3.1% UK 4.2% Netherlands 2.2% IETF Growth by Country December 1996 (San Jose) 11 Countries July 1999 (Oslo) 33 Countries Japan 6% USA 48% Other 8% Italy 2% Netherlands 3% Canada 3% France 4% Finland 4% Germany 5% Norway 5% UK 6% Sweden 6%

66 IETF structure

7 Internettdagerna Oct 24, IETF structures and key forums Internet Architecture Board Internet Engineering Steering Group Working groups in eight areas

8 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Internet Architecture Board (IAB) Mission Oversight of IETF, IRTF, IANA, liaisons Think tank for future Internet activities Recent activities Really worried right now about Integrity of the infrastructure Impact of unbridled creativity Wireless communications

9 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) Mission Assure open-ness and adherence to process Working group chartering and management “Quality assurance” on specifications Activities and trends Making sure mobile networks are part of the Internet Trying to grow the network (v6, routing)

10 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Working groups in eight areas Internet Routing Transport Applications (Sub-IP) Security Operations and management General

11 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Working group summary We have more than 100 working groups Not all currently active Maintain the v4 Internet Enable the v6 Internet Create the mobile Internet Make all the Internet useful and secure

12 IETF process

13 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Membership IETF members are people As opposed to nations or companies Communications tend to be among people As opposed to working groups, boards, etc. Have trouble understanding “liaison”

14 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Fundamental working principle “ ” We reject kings, presidents, and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code. Dr. David C. Clark, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

15 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Fundamental perspective of enlightened self-interest There is no one organization or company which has a corner on intelligence or expertise Good ideas that help our markets come from everywhere and anywhere Growing the Internet is good for all of us A larger Internet creates larger markets. Larger markets create cheaper products. Cheaper products create more end-user value.

16 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Two types of documents Internet drafts RFC - “request for comments”

17 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Internet drafts Most analogous to ITU “contributions” and “working papers” Not necessarily work items Half of all Internet drafts are simply documents people have chosen to post Nine out of ten I-Ds do NOT result in RFCs Types of drafts Working group documents Submissions to working groups Individual submissions

18 Internettdagerna Oct 24, RFCs Historical archive Many kinds of documents Informational Historical Experimental Standards Proposed, draft, full Best current practice

19 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Development process Bottom-up Working Group charters developed to support work people want to do Development process Working groups develop IESG reviews RFC editor publishes

20 Relations among standards bodies “Anyone who likes legislation or sausage should watch neither one being made” Baron von Bismarck “Anyone who likes legislation or sausage should watch neither one being made” Baron von Bismarck

21 Internettdagerna Oct 24, IETF: infrastructure protocols Some link layer PPP Network layer IPv4, IPv6 Routing protocols Transport layer TCP, UDP, RTP Security services Transport layer security, IPSEC, ISAKMP Telephony signaling Signaling transport Quality support Differentiated services Integrated services

22 Internettdagerna Oct 24, IETF: infrastructure applications SNMP management SMTP mail DNS name services LDAP directory services SSH virtual terminal protocol FTP file transfer HTTP web transfer And more...

23 Internettdagerna Oct 24, How IETF sees work divided Applications come from all over IETF Provides network infrastructure Tends to use interfaces defined by other bodies Wants to make sure the whole thing works HTML HTTP UDPRTP EthernetATMFrame RelayPPP Cellular Radio Telephony Signaling A variety of physical layers and interfaces Internet Protocol TCP MailSNMP Voice/ Video Data IEEE ETSI W3C ITU-T MPLS

24 Internettdagerna Oct 24, Questions?