The Internet s Caretakers
The Internet's CaretakersNumerous organizations, standards bodies, and even corporations function in different capacities. All of them contribute in some way to the Internet. Some allocate domain names (such as cisco.com) or assign IP addresses to the Internet's end users. Others create the technologies that make the Internet work or that let you use the Internet. All these entities are integral to the Internet's operation. We'll look at each one in this chapter, but only one can truly be considered the Internet's caretaker. That organization is the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). IETFThe manner in which the Internet's technology base is developed and ratified might not be intuitively appreciated. In fact, the arrangement is one of the more unconventional approaches you may ever find. As we start to explore just how it operates, and how standards and other recommendations are developed in this forum, you'll appreciate why I call it unconventional. Nevertheless, it is a model that works using both collaborative and competitive forces. One of the unique qualities of the IETF is that it consists almost entirely of unpaid volunteers. Don't misunderstand the point; these are highly technical and well-paid engineers who contribute their time to the IETF in addition to the work they do for their employers. Such volunteers don't pay dues to join the IETF. They simply "join" and either lurk in the background or actively contribute to the work being performed. The IETF, and the way it operates, can be traced back to the nascent days of the Internet when just a few hosts were interconnected directly with serial lines. In those days, the technical personnel responsible for supporting the various interconnected hosts realized that there was great benefit to working together for the sake of deriving consistency in naming conventions, the technology base, communications protocols, and guidelines for using their internetwork. Lacking a central budget, mission, or any of the other trappings of a conventional organization, nothing could be dictated. Only the mutual desire to improve the functionality of their interdependent network bound them together. Everything had to make sense for the entire community to form a consensus. Otherwise, suggestions and recommendations might not be adopted. The technical community supporting this early internetwork (a group of interconnected networks) formed a loose confederation and called themselves an engineering task force. The moniker stuck. Informal collaboration and communication worked quite well for a number of years, and then the Internet began its exponential growth stage toward the end of the 1980s. The first official meeting of the IETF was held in January of 1986 and was attended by just 21 people. Membership and participation have increased steadily since then and now encompass thousands of people. Although the IETF has grown tremendously, its original essence remains embodied in the way it is organized. Today, technical professionals from competitive companies work side-by-side under the auspices of the IETF to develop and maintain the Internet's technology base. Its membership is an ever-growing group of highly talented individuals who volunteer their time to collaboratively engineer and evolve the Internet's technology base. The IETF's work in spelling out the protocol-level details of new technologies, as well as methods and procedures, is published openly in a series of documents, which include the following:
Each type of document serves a specific purpose, and we'll look at each one in detail. First we need to examine the hierarchy of the IETF. That will help you better appreciate the inner workings of the IETF as it pertains to the development and ratification of these documents. As we explore the IETF in this chapter, you'll notice how its every nuance, including how the IETF is organized and functions, is recorded in a publicly available document that fits into one or more of the previously mentioned document classes. NOTE All of the IETF's documentation is publicly available on its website at www.ietf.org. Many organizations are affiliated with the IETF, each with loosely defined responsibilities. These groups include the following:
Each of these organizations is further explored in the remainder of this section. ISOCThe ISOC is an international nonprofit organization. It differs from other Internet organizations in that it is not a suborganization of the IETF. Its sole mission is to foster the growth of the global Internet. It does so in fairly abstract and less-than-obvious ways. For example, it theoretically provides oversight to the IETF and its subcomponents, but that oversight is limited to financial, logistic, and legal support. For example, it provides insurance coverage for people involved in the IETF's standards-creation processes, and it functions as a public relations channel whenever an IETF entity needs to communicate via the press. Perhaps the most visible output of the ISOC is that its trustees ratify the rules and procedures by which standards are developed for the Internet by the IETF. Thus, although the ISOC doesn't directly shape the Internet or its technology base, it sets the rules by which the Internet evolves. IABOne of the more critical subentities of the IETF is the IAB. Originally known as the Internet Activities Board, the IAB has evolved and grown over time in response to changes in the Internet. Today, the IAB is known as the Internet Architecture Board. It is responsible for long-range planning and coordinating activities across the various subcomponents of the IETF. As such, it is uniquely positioned to see the big picture of the IETF's cumulative efforts. Part of its role might be to bring issues to the attention of specific area directors if they think a long-term item requires some attention. IRTFThe IRTF is sponsored and overseen by the IAB. This group conducts research into emerging technologies, and this research becomes an input to the IAB's long-range technology planning activities. IANAThe IANA is responsible for keeping track of all numbers and numeric values that must be reserved or assigned for the various protocols and technologies maintained by the IETF to work properly. The most obvious example is the IP address space (the sum total of all IP addresses), but IANA's responsibilities also include maintaining the list of TCP and UDP standardized or well-known application port numbers. IANA is also the Internet's core registrar. This dubious distinction was conferred by the IAB, and it made IANA the "owner" of the root of the Internet's name space. This role has not exactly resulted in a positive perception throughout the Internet community, and unfortunately it has overshadowed some of IANA's other responsibilities. Although IANA once was a relatively autonomous entity within the IETF, and it still is technically charged with maintaining all the unique parameters used on the Internet (addresses, domain names, and port numbers) today, IANA appears to be slowly melding into ICANN. ICANNThe ICANN is a nonprofit corporation that was established to maintain IP address allocation, assignment of protocol parameters (such as port numbers), and management of the Internet's domain name system (DNS). These functions had previously been performed by IANA, but they have since been delegated to ICANN. To carry out its duties, ICANN has formed three function-specific supporting organizations (SOs):
ICANN functions as the root of the Internet's domain name space and charters both registries and registrars. The registry function is distributed by regions around the globe. It allows address space to be parsed out and managed regionally. Such registries are known as Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). There are three registries, but some cover more than one region. Table 1-1 lists the regions and their supporting RIRs.
ARIN stands for American Registry for Internet Numbers. APNIC stands for Asia Pacific Network Information Centre. RIPE NCC is a bit tougher for North Americans to grasp; it stands for Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre. Each registry is given a block of IP addresses and is responsible for assigning and managing that space within its region. Two other geographic regions have announced plans to form their own RIRs: Africa and Latin America. ICANN is the only entity that can charter an RIR and assign it an address space. Within each RIR's region, other entities can apply to become Local Internet Registries (LIRs), much like an Internet Service Provider (ISP) can assign address blocks to its customers' operational networks. Registrars, on the other hand, are responsible for managing the assignment of Internet domain names. This is a much more contentious issue than merely parsing out numbers. Don't worry just yet about why domain names can be contentious; we'll cover that in detail in Chapter 8, "Internet Names." For now, it is enough that you just appreciate the acronyms, roles, and responsibilities of the various bodies that regulate the Internet's growth, evolution, and operation.
IESGThe Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) provides technical management of all IETF activities, as well as its standards-development process. The IESG consists of area directors, each of which are nominated by the IETF's nominations committee and serve a two-year term. The area directors oversee a specific technical area. Current areas include the following:
These areas correlate almost perfectly with the functional areas of the working groups, which are described in more detail in the next section. The only exception is the General Area, which exists as a catchall mechanism for the IESG. Not many initiatives fall into this category, but those that do can be assigned to whichever area or areas are deemed appropriate. It's important to note that the oversight of the IESG and its area directors doesn't extend to direct oversight of technical development efforts. Instead, oversight is construed as ratifying the output of the working groups. Thus, the IESG can exert influence on whether any particular proposal advances to the point where it can be implemented. Typically, the IESG accepts the recommendations of working groups, but it can reject a recommendation if it believes the group has either strayed from its charter or has recommended something that will have an adverse effect on the Internet and its technology base. Working GroupsThe detail work of developing specific technical solutions to specific technical problems is performed by transient organizations within the IETF known as working groups. The IETF has sought to create a continuity of technical expertise in working groups by organizing them into functional areas. Each functional area is directed by an IESG area director. An area can have multiple working groups operating simultaneously, focused on extremely specific activities. It is important to note that these areas do not necessarily translate cleanly into areas recognized by the IESG. Consider this imperfect correlation between working groups and IESG areas; a feature that enables flexibility, as opposed to a flaw which promotes confusion. The output of any given working group may be reviewed by multiple IESG area directors to obviate potential conflicting technologies or recommendations. Currently, the IETF has active working groups in the following functional areas:
If these categorizations sound a bit soft, and it seems there is great potential for overlap, you're right. Many specific technical problems are worked on jointly by two or more working groups. Membership in a working group is voluntary. If the notion of joining a working group and helping develop new standards for the Internet appeals to you, do yourself and everyone in the IETF a favor, and read RFC 3160. Entitled "The Tao of the IETF," this document helps you better understand the organization, its culture, and everything about the work it produces. The URL is www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3160.txt |
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