A short introduction to the IETF Harald Alvestrand

A short introduction to the IETF Harald Alvestrand IETF chair 1

IETF History 2

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) • Historical developer of Internet-related protocols Http: //www. ietf. org Consortium of individuals from Research, Education, Network operators, and Internet vendors Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 3

Changed IETF composition and roles 2500 Attendance 2000 1500 Research/Education primarily US 1000 500 Vendor/International 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 19 91 19 90 19 89 19 88 19 87 19 86 0 Actual Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org Avg. . 4

IETF Growth by Country Netherlands Italy Other 2% 8% 3% Canada 3% France USA 4% 48% Finland 4% Germany 5% Norway UK Sweden Japan 5% 6% 6% 6% Germany Sweden Other 1. 9% 1. 8% 5. 5% France 2. 0% Netherlands 2. 2% Canada 3. 1% JAPAN UK USA 7. 6% 4. 2% 71. 6% • December 1996 (San Jose) • July 1999 (Oslo) • 11 Countries • 33 Countries Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 5

IETF structure 6

IETF structures and key forums • Internet Architecture Board • Internet Engineering Steering Group • Working groups in eight areas Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 7

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 Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 8

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 (v 6, routing) Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 9

Working groups in eight areas Internet Security Routing Operations and management Transport Applications General (Sub-IP) Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 10

Working group summary • We have more than 100 working groups Not all currently active • Maintain the v 4 Internet • Enable the v 6 Internet • Create the mobile Internet • Make all the Internet useful and secure Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 11

IETF process 12

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” Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 13

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 Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org ” 14

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. Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 15

Two types of documents • Internet drafts • RFC - “request for comments” Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 16

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 Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 17

RFCs • Historical archive • Many kinds of documents • Standards Informational Proposed, draft, full Historical Best current practice Experimental Standards Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 18

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 Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 19

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

IETF: infrastructure protocols • Security services Transport layer security, IPSEC, ISAKMP • Some link layer PPP • Network layer IPv 4, IPv 6 • Telephony signaling Signaling transport Routing protocols • Transport layer • Quality support TCP, UDP, RTP Differentiated services Integrated services Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 21

IETF: infrastructure applications • SNMP management • SMTP mail • DNS name services • LDAP directory services Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 • SSH virtual terminal protocol • FTP file transfer • HTTP web transfer • And more. . . www. ietf. org 22

How IETF sees work divided W 3 C IEEE HTML Voice/ Video Telephony Data HTTP SNMP Mail Signaling UDP RTP TCP Internet Protocol MPLS Ethernet ATM Frame Relay PPP A variety of physical layers and interfaces Cellular Radio ETSI ITU-T • 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 Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 23

Questions? Internettdagerna Oct 24, 2000 www. ietf. org 24