Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Tony Hain <alh-ietf@tndh.net>

Agenda

Organization

Working Groups

Documents

Perspective

Agenda

Organization

Working Groups

Documents

Perspective

Role

Historical developer of Internet-related protocolshttp://www.ietf.org

Consortium of individuals from Research, Education, Network operators, and Internet vendors

Organization

Internet Society (ISOC) – Legal entity, funding & insurance

Internet Architecture Board (IAB) – Architecture overview, Process appeals

Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) – Process Management

Working Groups (over 100 in 8 areas)

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)

MissionOversight of IETF, IRTF, IANA, liaisonsThink tank for future Internet activities

Recent activitiesReally worried right now about

Integrity of the infrastructureIntrusion of middle-boxesImpact of unbridled creativityWireless communications

Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)

MissionAssure openness and adherence to processWorking group chartering and management“Quality assurance” on specifications

Activities and trendsMaking sure mobile networks are part of the InternetTrying to grow the network (IPv6, routing)

Membership

IETF members are individualsAs opposed to nations or companies

Communications tend to be among individualsAs opposed to working groups, boards, etc.

Have trouble understanding “liaison”

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

0

500

1000

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Changed IETF composition and roles

Att

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Actual Avg.

Vendor/International

Research/Educationprimarily US

USA71.6%

Other5.5%

JAPAN7.6%

Sweden1.8%

Germany1.9%France

2.0%

Canada3.1%UK4.2%

Netherlands2.2%

IETF Growth by Country

December 1996 (San Jose) 11 Countries

July 1999 (Oslo) 33 Countries

Japan6%

USA48%

Other 8%

Italy2%

Netherlands3%Canada3%France4%Finland4%Germany5%Norway5%

UK6%

Sweden6%

Agenda

Organization

Working Groups

Documents

Perspective

Working groups in eight areas

Internet

Routing

Transport

Applications

Security

Operations and management

General

(Sub-IP)

Working group summary

We have more than 100 working groups Not all currently active

Maintain the IPv4 Internet

Enable the IPv6 Internet

Create the mobile Internet

Make all the Internet useful and secure

Development process

Bottom-upWorking Group charters developed to support work people want to do

Development processWorking groups develop to consensus

IESG reviews

RFC editor publishes

Specified in RFC 2026

Work model

Primary work is conducted continuously on mail lists

3 face-to-face meetings per yearUsed for issues that are not resolved via email

7-10 parallel meetings in 1 to 2 ½ hour segments

Mon-Thurs 9am to 10pm

Orientation session Sun 12-4

Agenda

Organization

Working Groups

Documents

Perspective

Two types of documents

Internet drafts

RFC - “request for comments”

Internet drafts

Most analogous to ITU “contributions” and “working papers”

Not necessarily work itemsHalf of all Internet drafts are simply documents people have chosen to postNine out of ten I-Ds do NOT result in RFCs

Types of draftsWorking group documentsSubmissions to working groupsIndividual submissions

Expire in 6 months

RFCs

Historical archive

Many kinds of documents

Informational

Historical

Experimental

Standards

StandardsProposed

Draft

Full

Best current practice

Agenda

Organization

Working Groups

Documents

Perspective

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 usA larger Internet creates larger markets.Larger markets create cheaper products.Cheaper products create more end-user value.

How IETF sees work divided

Applications come from all over

IETFProvides network infrastructureTends to use interfaces defined by other bodiesWants to make sure the whole thing works

HTMLHTTP

UDP RTP

Ethernet ATM Frame Relay PPPCellular Radio

Telephony Signaling

A variety of physical layers and interfaces

Internet ProtocolTCP

Mail SNMPVoice/ VideoData

IEEEETSI

W3C

ITU-T

MPLS

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 signalingSignaling transport

Quality supportDifferentiated servicesIntegrated services

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...

Thank you