Introduction

Sections:

• IETF Standards
  Standard - Draft - Proposed - Experimental - Obsoleted
• RFCs listed by
  Author - Date - Protocol - Term (term->RFC#) (1.7m) Keyword (RFC#->term) (1.5m)
• RFCs that are also
  • Standards (STD)
  • Best Current Practices (BCP)
  • For Your Information (FYI)
  • RARE Technical Reports (RTR)
• Request For Comments (RFC) summary
  
• Special list of RFCs referring to MD5

Format of Request For Comment (RFC) summary entries

NUM STD

Title of RFC, Author 1, .. Author N, Issue date (#pp) (.txt=nnnn .ps=nnnn) (FYI-#) (STD-#) (BCP-#) (RTR-#) (Obsoletes ##) (Updates ##) (Refs ##) (protocol) (was draft)

Misc. Notes

There is only one set of files and most href's include "target" specifications. If you are running a browser with frames support and do not select "frames", different files will be placed in different browser windows. There also seems to be some frame implementation variations.

For some time the working group name from the IETF email announcements have been used as a keyword. As a result the keyword organization of RFCs will include lists of RFCs done by working group.

Misc. other RFCs of possible interest: "Not All RFCs are Standards" 1796, "Architectural Principles of the Internet" 1958, and "Guide for Internet Standards Writers" 2360.

The draft and proposed standards list include age of RFCs in months (with months >24 displayed in bold). Standards and Protocols documented by obsoleted RFC have number displayed in bold. Protocol names that match port protocol have the port number listed.

Author, Date, and Term indexes have RFCs documenting standards displayed in bold. Term indexes have "misc. &/or unclassified" for RFCs that have no other "Term" classification.

email addresses are extracted from RFC editor announcements and included in the Author index. Authors (typically organizations) that are also listed as terms, have their associated RFCs listed as such in the term index.

There has been quite a bit of data cleaning, especially with respect to updates/obsoletes and author names. In the RFC index entries, the author order is not preserved when loading into the database. When re-creating the author list for a RFC, it is built in alphabetical order.

There are a couple instances where Obsoletes/Updates may not be listed:

• multiple RFCs obsolete the same RFC, only the lowest numbered RFC is listed (doesn't quite capture the intent in cases like both 1034 and 1035 obsoleting 973).
• An "Updated By" RFC will not be listed if it has been obsoleted (although the obsoleted RFC entry will continue to show its full "Updates" list). An example is 2474 obsoleting 1349 which updates 791, 1122, 1123, 1195, 1247, and 1448.

RFC text files are now being scanned for References section and the information extracted and presented in manner similar to Updates/UpdatedBy. Also, RFCs that mutually reference each other have the References relationship converted to symmetric "SeeAlso". For more detail, see detailed discussion

The IETF draft origin of an RFC will be listed for the first six months after it has been made an RFC.

Standards Overview

For more complete description see "The Internet Standards Process" BCP-9 and the latest rfcxx00.txt.

Standard Protocol

A specification for which significant implementation and successful operational experience has been obtained may be elevated to the Internet Standard level. An Internet Standard (which may simply be referred to as a Standard) is characterized by a high degree of technical maturity and by a generally held belief that the specified protocol or service provides significant benefit to the Internet community.

Draft Standard Protocol

A specification from which at least two independent and interoperable implementations from different code bases have been developed, and for which sufficient successful operational experience has been obtained, may be elevated to the "Draft Standard" level. For the purposes of this section, "interoperable" means to be functionally equivalent or interchangeable components of the system or process in which they are used. If patented or otherwise controlled technology is required for implementation, the separate implementations must also have resulted from separate exercise of the licensing process. Elevation to Draft Standard is a major advance in status, indicating a strong belief that the specification is mature and will be useful.

Proposed Standard Protocol

The entry-level maturity for the standards track is "Proposed Standard". A specific action by the IESG is required to move a specification onto the standards track at the "Proposed Standard" level.

Experimental Protocol

The "Experimental" designation typically denotes a specification that is part of some research or development effort. Such a specification is published for the general information of the Internet technical community and as an archival record of the work, subject only to editorial considerations and to verification that there has been adequate coordination with the standards process (see below). An Experimental specification may be the output of an organized Internet research effort (e.g., a Research Group of the IRTF), an IETF Working Group, or it may be an individual contribution.

Historical Protocol

A specification that has been superseded by a more recent specification or is for any other reason considered to be obsolete is assigned to the "Historic" level. (Purists have suggested that the word should be "Historical"; however, at this point the use of "Historic" is historical.)

Archeological References

20th Anniversary Of The Internet!, also #1, #2, #3. also RFCs: 801 and 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 842, 843, 845, 846, 847, 848, 876

Early IETF History (April 1969 to March 1987): 1000 "Request For Comments reference guide".
Also: "30 Years of RFCs" 2555 ,
Hobbes' Internet Timeline 2235,
"Working with Jon, Tribute delivered at UCLA" 2441.

reference to: NSFnet Announcement and Award
reference to: NSFnet -- 20 Years of Internet Obscurity and Insight
and a few old NSFnet related emails

Other References

Domain Name Registration by Network Solutions

Finding Information on the Internet: A TUTORIAL

C S R C - Guidance / Publications / Library

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Home Page

Welcome to APNIC

GENI.net Global Environmnet for Network Innovations

RIPE NCC: Homepage

American National Standards Institute

Internet RFC/FYI/STD/BCP Archives

IANA Home Page

IETF Home Page

Internet-Drafts

Active IETF Working Groups

IETF RFC Page

IRTF Home Page

Internet Society Home Page

Internet Society (ISOC) All About The Internet: History of the Internet

The Internet Council

The rfc-dist Archives

rfc-dist Info Page

The rfc-dist Archives

Request for Comments (RFC) Editor Homepage

RFC OVERVIEW

Request for Comments

W3C - The World Wide Web Consortium

XIWT Home Page

Files

rfcauthor.htm RFCs by author

rfcdate.htm RFCs by date

rfcdoc.htm STD, BCP, FYI, & RTR indexes

rfcidx0.htm RFC 1-600

rfcidx1.htm RFC 601-1200

rfcidx2.htm RFC 1201-1800

rfcidx3.htm RFC 1801-2400

rfcidx4.htm RFC 2401-3000

rfcidx5.htm RFC 3001-3600

rfcidx6.htm RFC 3601-4200

rfcidx7.htm RFC 4201-4800

rfcidx8.htm RFC 4801-5400

rfcidx9.htm RFC 5401-6000

rfcidx10.htm RFC 6001-6600

rfcidx11.htm RFC 6601-7200

rfcidx12.htm RFC 7201-7800

rfcidx13.htm RFC 7801-8400

rfcidx14.htm RFC 8401-9000

rfcidx15.htm RFC 9001-9600

rfcietf.htm Introduction (this file)

rfcietfb.htm frame index

rfcietff.htm frame specification

rfcprot.htm RFCs by protocol

rfcstd.htm RFCs by standard

rfcterms.htm RFCs by keyword/term

rfckeyw.htm Keywords by RFCs