Standards

Details - Frequently Asked Questions - Anecdotes - Links to other sites

 
Definition
The Internet is successful because the standards on which it depends have been widely accepted - across the whole of the Internet and the Intranets.
 
Some of the key standards are
 
HTML The language used to create Web pages. HTML commands instruct the browser how to process and display the web page contents.
HTTP The protocol used by a browser when communicating with a Web server
SMTP The protocol for sending electronic mail over the Internet
TCP/IP The protocol  used to communicate between the computers on the Internet
URL A standard mechanism for specifying the address of all the files (Web pages, etc) on the Internet
Discussion
In the early days these standards started life being used by a small group of people and as the word spread others adopted them. Now that they are so important to so many organisations, they are managed by working parties set up by one of the Internet standardisation bodies. In addition the major vendors such as Netscape and Microsoft support extensions to the standards in their software. These extensions sometimes find their way into the standards.
 
Proposed standards are published on the Internet as Requests for Comment (RFCs). Anybody can submit comments. After considering the comments the working group will either publish another RFC or decide that it is ready for implementation. When a consensus is reached the proposal is declared to be "adopted" and it is then up to the software writers to start implementing the new standard. There is no compulsion to implement a standard so it depends on the resources and motivation of the implementers (possibly driven by market forces) as to how quickly and accurately the standard gets implemented.
More Details (sometimes Technical)
Nothing yet
Frequently Asked Questions
Who runs the Internet? The answer is no one company, country or organisation. It works by a large number of organisations and companies working in co-operation. On a day to day basis it is run by the Internet Service Providers and the companies that own the cables and routers that make up the Internet. They are all however dependent on the standard making bodies who define the rules that they work to. The whole thing is an amazing example of co-operation.

Who is responsible for defining and implementing standards? The following are the major players:

The Internet Engineering Task Force The body that creates the proposed Internet standards such as FTP, LDAP, NNTP, MIME, TCP/IP. The dozens of  working groups cover such topics as "S/MIME Mail Security", "IP Routing for  Wireless/Mobile Hosts", "Internet Open Trading Protocol", "Internet Fax"
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) W3C defines its mission as being to " to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability".  "Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web for developers and users; reference code implementations to embody and promote standards; and various prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new technology."
Standards they are responsible for include HTML, XML, PNG, HTTP.
Internet Architecture Board (IAB) Overseas the management of the Internet. This includes management of the IETF, publication of RFCs and overseeing the standardisation process for the Internet.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) The IANA has overall responsibility for assigning  Internet Protocol addresses, domain names, and protocol parameters. IP addresses and Domain names will continue to be issued via the Internet Service Providers and bodies such as Internic.  
The Internet Society (ISOC) The Internet Society describes itself as "a professional membership society with more than 100 organisational and 6,000 individual members in over 100 countries. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organisation home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)."
Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) The IRTF mission is "To promote research of importance to the evolution of the future Internet by creating focused, long-term and small Research Groups working on topics related to Internet protocols, applications, architecture and technology."
Network Solutions Network Solutions has overall responsibility for managing the registration of   the top level domains .com, .net , .org, and .edu.
Nominet Nominet are responsible for managing the allocation of all domain names ending in .uk
Anecdotes
None yet
Links to other sites
http://www.ietf.org/ - Internet Engineering Task Force   
http://www.w3.org/ - for World Wide Web Standards
http://www.isi.edu/iab/ - Internet Architecture Board
http://www.rfc-editor.org/  - For RFCs
http://www.iana.org/ - The Internet Assigned Number Association.
http://info.isoc.org/ - The Internet Society
http://www.irtf.org/ - The Internet Research Task Force
http://www.nsf.gov/  - US National Science Foundation
http://www.networksolutions.com/  - for registering  generic domain names
http://www.nominet.org.uk - Nominet


© New Media in Business Ltd 1997-2000
Last updated: 12 May 2000

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