Internet Requests for Comments (RFC)

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The complete index to all RFCs online. These are marked-up into HTML from the authoritative plain text versions.

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RFCs of Particular Interest

Internet Users' Glossary

There are many networking glossaries in existence. This glossary concentrates on terms which are specific to the Internet.

Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions

This FYI RFC is one of two FYI's called, "Questions and Answers" (Q/A), produced by the User Services Working Group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The goal is to document the most commonly asked questions and answers in the Internet.

Answers to Commonly asked "Experienced Internet User" Questions

This FYI RFC is one of two FYI's called, "Questions and Answers" (Q/A), produced by the User Services Working Group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The goal is to document the most commonly asked questions and answers in the Internet.

Responsibilities of Host and Network Managers

This informational RFC describes the conventions to be followed by those in charge of networks and hosts in the Internet. It is a summary of the "oral tradition" of the Internet on this subject.

Requirements for IP Version 4 Routers

This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol.

Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Application and Support

This RFC is an official specification for the Internet community. It incorporates by reference, amends, corrects, and supplements the primary protocol standards documents relating to hosts.

Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Communication Layers

This RFC is an official specification for the Internet community. It incorporates by reference, amends, corrects, and supplements the primary protocol standards documents relating to hosts.

RFCs of Historical Interest

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet

The hitchhikers guide to the Internet is a very unevenly edited memo and contains many passages which simply seemed to its editors like a good idea at the time. It is an indispensable companion to all those who are keen to make sense of life in an infinitely complex and confusing Internet, for although it cannot hope to be useful or informative on all matters, it does make the reassuring claim that where it is inaccurate, it is at least definitively inaccurate. In cases of major discrepancy it is always reality that's got it wrong. And remember, DON'T PANIC. (Apologies to Douglas Adams.)

The "Lighter Side"

SONET to Sonnet Translation

Because Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) transmits data in frames of bytes, it is fairly easy to envision ways to compress SONET frames to yield higher bandwidth over a given fiber optic link. This memo describes a particular method, SONET Over Novel English Translation (SONNET).

Definitions of Managed Objects for Drip-Type Heated Beverage Hardware Devices using SMIv2

This memo defines an extension to the Management Information Base (MIB) for use with network management protocols in the Internet community. In particular, it defines objects for the management of coffee-brewing and maintenance devices.

Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0)

There is coffee all over the world. Increasingly, in a world in which computing is ubiquitous, the computists want to make coffee. Coffee brewing is an art, but the distributed intelligence of the web-connected world transcends art. Thus, there is a strong, dark, rich requirement for a protocol designed espressoly for the brewing of coffee. Coffee is brewed using coffee pots. Networked coffee pots require a control protocol if they are to be controlled.

RITA -- The Reliable Internetwork Troubleshooting Agent

A Description of the usage of Nondeterministic Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Methodologies as applied to today's complex nondeterministic networks and environments.

The Naming of Hosts

This RFC is a commentary on the difficulty of deciding upon an acceptably distinctive hostname for one's computer, a problem which grows in direct proportion to the logarithmically increasing size of the Internet.

The Twelve Networking Truths

This memo documents the fundamental truths of networking for the Internet community.

A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers

This memo describes an experimental method for the encapsulation of IP datagrams in avian carriers. This specification is primarily useful in Metropolitan Area Networks.