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Internet Standards, RFC and Maturity Levels

An Internet Standard  is as thoroughly tested specification that is useful to and adhered to by those who work with the Internet. It is a formalized regulation that must be followed. There is a strict procedure by which a specification attains Internet standard status. A specification begins as an Internet draft. An Internet draft is a working document ( a work in progress) with no official status and a six-month lifetime. Upon recommendation from the Internet authorities, a draft may be published as a Request for Comment (RFC). Each RFC is edited, assigned a number, and made available to all interested parties.

RFCs go through maturity levels and are categorized according to their requirement level.

Maturity Levels
An RFC, during its lifetime, falls into one of six maturity levels: proposed standard, draft standard, Internet standard, historic, experimental, and Informational.

  • Proposed Standard. A proposed standard is a specification that is stable, well understood, and of sufficient interest to the internet communityAt this level, the specification is usually tested and implemented by several different programs.
  • Draft Standard. A proposed standard is elevated to draft standard status after atleast two successful independent and interoperable implementations. Barring difficulties, a draft standard, with modifications if specific problems are encountered, normally becomes an internet standard.
  • Internet Standard. A draft standard reaches Internet standard after demonstrations of successful implementation.
  • Historic. The Historic RFCs are significant from a historical perspective. They either have been superseded by later specifications or have never passed the necessary maturity levels to become an internet standard.
  • Experimental. An RFC classified as experimental describes work related to an experimental situation that does not affect the operation of the internet. Such an RFC should not be implemented in any functional Internet service.
  • Informational. An RFC classified as informational contains general, historical, or tutorial information related to the Internet. It is usually written by someone in a non-Internet organization, such as a vendor.
RFC Requirement Levels
RFCs are classified into 5 Requirement Levels: required, recommended, elective, limited use and not recommended.

  • Required. An RFC is labeled required if it must be implemented by all Internet systems to achieve minimum conformance. For example, IP and ICMP are required protocols.
  • Recommended. An RFC labeled recommended is not required for minimum conformance; it is recommended because of its usefulness. For example, FTP and TELNET are recommended protocols.
  • Elective. An RFC labeled elective is not required and not recommended. However, a system can use it for its own benefit.
  • Limited Use. An RFC labeled limited use should be used only in limited situations. Most of the experimental RFCs fall under this category.
  • Not recommended. An RFC labeled not recommended is inappropriate for general use. Normally a historic (obsolete) RFC may fall under this category.
RFCs can be found at http://www.faqs.org/rfcs

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