European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation IETF Standardisation Overview and integration of Internet standards SpeakerFrederic MEUNIER courtesy of TechnoMan Ingenierie OrganisationSOFREAVIA Date and venueJune 2006, Brussels

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation IETF Standardization Summary ISOC organization : bodies and groups Essence of IETF standards : RFCs Lifecycle of an RFC Revising / Improving standards How to integrate RFC standards

3 ISOC organisation Internet SOCiety (ISOC) : International NGO founded 1992 Mission & Role : Develop Internet related standards Influence Public Policies on Internet governance Promote and support education Annual budget US$ (2004)

4 ISOC organisation individuals organizational members Partners : Regional Internet Registries Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) root server operators Governments and groups (incl. UN)...

5 ISOC organisation ISOC IETF Internet Engineering Task Force IAB Internet Advisory Board IESG Internet Engineering Steering Group IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority Area Directors Appeals board Standards ArchitectureManagement

6 ISOC organisation IETF : Funding comes from ISOC and working group members (meetings) 8 functional areas managed by Area Directors from IESG Application area General area Internet area Operations and Management area Real-time Applications and Infrastructure area Routing area Security area Transport area « a loosely self-organized group of people »

7 ISOC organisation Working groups (actual technical work) : A specific and reasonably achievable goal Limited lifetime (short-lived) Active participation makes you a Member : You "join" the WG by subscribing to the mailing list WG established at the initiative of an AD, an individual or a group of individuals : Considered by AD and IESG Charter negotiated between AD an WG Approved by IESG (then IAB)

8 ISOC organisation IETF Chair Working Group Members "We reject kings, presidents and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code." Editor Chair Working Group Members Editor […]

9 ISOC organisation Relationship with other standardisation organisations : no formal recognition no submission to traditional bodies Normalisation bodies cant pre-empt RFC Equal rights peers.

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation IETF Standardization Summary ISOC organization : bodies and groups Essence of IETF standards : RFCs Lifecycle of an RFC Revising / Improving standards How to integrate RFC standards

11 IETF Standards RFC : Request For Comments above the wire and below the application Not all RFCs are standards

12 IETF Standards Types of RFC : Informational (FYI) / Experimental / Historical Best Current Practice (BCP) Proposed Standard : deploying implementation of such standards into a disruption-sensitive environment is not recommended Draft standard : at least two independent, interoperable implementations and sufficient successful operational experience exists mature and final form of specification Standard (STD) : Numerous significant implementations and successful operational experiences

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation IETF Standardization Summary ISOC organization : bodies and groups Essence of IETF standards : RFCs Lifecycle of an RFC Revising / Improving standards How to integrate RFC standards

14 Lifecycle of an RFC Goals of the Internet Standards Process: technical excellence prior implementation and testing clear, concise, and easily understandable documentation openness and relevance timeliness To bring balance with today's rapid development of networking technology

15 Lifecycle of an RFC « Who does what ? » IESG : steering group process management and RFC approval body technical review & approves publication Inter-WG technical coherence IETF : technical work RFC proposals Seeking technical consensus

16 Lifecycle of an RFC The Internet Standards Process (RFC 2026) : WG submits an Internet Draft Technical reviewed by AD (against charter) Reviewed by IESG board (eventually transmitted to IAB for advice) RFC is then published

17 Lifecycle of an RFC Working group doc, or individual standards track doc IESG RFC Editor SubmitConcerns Published RFC IETF Community Review Last Call Comments, suggestions suggestions Area Director

18 Lifecycle of an RFC Finalisation of an RFC : No formal vote does not require unanimity disputes resolved by discussion in mailing list and face-to-face meetings final decisions is recorded on mailing list

19 Lifecycle of an RFC Publication : Through RFC Editor : Freely and widely available / accessible (no fees) Drafts are available through

20 Lifecycle of an RFC Intellectual Property Rights A recurring concern Some limited rights in all Contributions must be granted to the IETF and Internet Society Defined in RFC 3978 et 3979

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation IETF Standardization Summary ISOC organization : bodies and groups Essence of IETF standards : RFCs Lifecycle of an RFC Revising / Improving standards How to integrate RFC standards

22 Improving standards Once published, an RFC is NEVER revised If the standard it describes changes, the standard will be re-published in another RFC that "obsoletes" the first Some RFC may extend existing work Some corporations submit their own documentation to the RFC repository

23 Improving standards Example : RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol) RFC1889 -> RFC3550 Numerous additions to improve or extend the standard example-RFC.html

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation IETF Standardization Summary ISOC organization : bodies and groups Essence of IETF standards : RFCs Lifecycle of an RFC Revising / Improving standards How to integrate RFC standards

25 How to integrate RFC standards Some features may not be defined in RFC Implement as you like ! External reference to an RFC is supposed to be whole.

26 How to integrate RFC standards Defined glossary of terms (RFC2119) : "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", "OPTIONAL"

27 How to integrate RFC standards OSI Reference model and RFCs : PHY DATA LINK NETWORK TRANSPORT SESSION PRESENTATION APPLICATION RFCs Mainly ISO, IEEE, ITU, ETSI, …

28 How to integrate RFC standards Use the latest RFC : Exclude obsolete documents Updates and errata are supposed to be included Be sure to check for important changes prior to referencing Referencing through RFC number is enough Include all needed related standards example-IP.htm

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation IETF Standardization End