Request for Comments

Request for Comments is a series of documents that outline standards, protocols, and practices for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Society (ISOC), with contributions from Vint Cerf, Bob Kahn, and Jon Postel. The Request for Comments series has been instrumental in shaping the Internet Protocol (IP) and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), with key input from Larry Roberts and Steve Crocker. The series has also been influenced by the work of Donald Davies and Paul Baran, who developed the concept of packet switching.

Overview and purpose

The primary purpose of the Request for Comments series is to facilitate the development of new technologies and standards for the Internet and the World Wide Web, with involvement from organizations such as the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). The series provides a forum for computer scientists and engineers, including Tim Berners-Lee and Marc Andreessen, to share their ideas and proposals, and to receive feedback from the community, including experts like Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman. The Request for Comments series has been used to develop and refine many important technologies, including the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), with contributions from Jon Postel and Paul Mockapetris.

Development process

The development process for the Request for Comments series involves several stages, including the submission of a proposal, review by the IETF community, and approval by the IESG, with input from experts like Scott Bradner and Harald Alvestrand. The process typically begins with the submission of a draft document, which is then reviewed and commented on by the community, including members of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) and the Internet Society (ISOC). The draft is then revised and resubmitted, with feedback from computer networks experts like Radia Perlman and Yogen Dalal. This process continues until the document is approved and published as a Request for Comments, with the final version often being influenced by the work of organizations like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Types and status levels

There are several types of Request for Comments documents, including Informational, Experimental, and Standards Track, with each type having its own specific purpose and status level, as defined by the IETF and the ISOC. The Informational type is used for documents that provide background information or describe a particular technology, such as the work of Douglas Engelbart and Alan Kay. The Experimental type is used for documents that describe new or untested technologies, such as the IPv6 protocol, which was developed by the IETF with input from Steve Deering and Robert Hinden. The Standards Track type is used for documents that describe technologies that have been approved as Internet Standards, such as the TCP/IP protocol, which was developed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn.

Notable examples and impact

The Request for Comments series has had a significant impact on the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web, with many notable examples of influential documents, including RFC 1, which was written by Steve Crocker and described the initial ARPANET network, and RFC 20, which was written by Vint Cerf and described the Network Control Protocol (NCP). Other notable examples include RFC 675, which described the TCP/IP protocol, and RFC 791, which described the Internet Protocol (IP), with contributions from Jon Postel and Paul Mockapetris. The series has also been influential in the development of other technologies, such as the Domain Name System (DNS), which was developed by Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel, and the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which was developed by Tim Berners-Lee and Roy Fielding.

Standardization and adoption

The Request for Comments series has played a key role in the standardization and adoption of many Internet and World Wide Web technologies, with many documents being adopted as Internet Standards by the IETF and the ISOC. The series has also been influential in the development of other standards, such as the HTTP/1.1 protocol, which was developed by the IETF with input from Roy Fielding and Henrik Frystyk Nielsen. The adoption of Request for Comments documents as standards has helped to ensure the interoperability and compatibility of different technologies and systems, and has facilitated the widespread adoption of the Internet and the World Wide Web, with the support of organizations like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and the involvement of experts like Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn.