3.2.3.

6 Lab- Researching network standards

Part 1:
1. Who is Johnathan B. Postel and what is he known for?


He was known as a modest, private man. Indeed the biography on his own web site contained
only eight sentences, barely hinting at the significance of his many roles and contributions. He
studied at UCLA, ultimately gaining his Ph.D. in computer science in 1974. Those studies led to
his early involvement in the ARPANET project, the packet switching network from which the
modern Internet evolved. His technical influence can be seen at the very heart of many of the
protocols which make the Internet work: TCP/IP determines the way data is moved through a
network; SMTP allows us to send emails; and DNS, the Domain Name Service, help people make
sense of the Internet. He contributed to these and many other technologies.

2. Which two related organizations are responsible for managing the top level domain name
space and the root domain name system (DNS) name servers on the internet?



There is really just one being ICANN Infrastructure top-level domain -- There is only one TLD
in this group, ARPA (Address and Routing Parameter Area). The Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA) manages this TLD for the IETF.

3. Vinton Cerf has been called one of the main fathers on the internet. What internet
organizations did he chair or help found? What internet technologies did he help to
develop?

Cerf led the engineering of MCI Mail, the first commercial email service to be connected to the
Internet. Cerf rejoined MCI during 1994 and served as Senior Vice President of Technology
Strategy. In this role, he helped to guide corporate strategy development from a technical
perspective. Previously, he served as MCI's senior vice president of Architecture and
Technology, leading a team of architects and engineers to design advanced networking
frameworks, including Internet-based solutions for delivering a combination of data,
information, voice and video services for business and consumer use. Cerf has worked for
Google as a Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist since October 2005. In this function he
has become well known for his predictions on how technology will affect future society,
encompassing such areas as artificial intelligence, environmentalism, the advent of IPv6 and the
transformation of the television industry and its delivery model.

4. What organization is responsible for publishing request or comments (RFC)?

An RFC is authored by engineers and computer scientists in the form of a memorandum
describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the
Internet and Internet-connected systems. It is submitted either for peer review or simply to
convey new concepts, information, or (occasionally) engineering humor. The IETF adopts
some of the proposals published as RFCs as Internet standards.

5. What do RFC 349 and RFC 1700 have in common?

I dont know what they have in common.

6. What RFC number is ARPAWOCKY? What is it?

RFC 527.

7. Who founded the World Wide Web consortium (W3C)?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was founded by Tim Berners-Lee after he left the
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in October, 1994.

8. Name 10 World Wide Web (WWW) standards that the W3C develops and maintain?

CGI
CSS
DOM
GRDDL
HTML
MathML
OWL
P3P
RDF
SISR

9. Where is the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) headquarters located
and what is the significance of its logo?
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a professional association with its corporate office
in New York City and its operations center in Piscataway, New Jersey. It was formed in 1963 from the
amalgamation of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers.

10. What is the IEEE standard for the Wi-Fi protected access 2 (WPA2) security protocol?

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit association, created WPA security to offer greater security
than the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm provides. Unlike WEP's hexadecimal key,
WPA uses a standard password system. Although WPA offers protection from most
intrusions, the Wi-Fi Alliance now recommends that users switch to Wi-Fi Protected Access
2, the latest standards-based wireless security solution derived from the IEEE 802.11i
standard. Since 2006, hardware manufacturers that use the Wi-Fi trademark must support
Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2).

11. Is the Wi-Fi alliance a non-profit standard organization? What is their goal?


Wi-Fi Alliance is a trade association that promotes Wi-Fi technology and certifies Wi-Fi
products if they conform to certain standards of interoperability. Not every IEEE 802.11-
compliant device is submitted for certification to the Wi-Fi Alliance, sometimes because of
costs associated with the certification process. The lack of the Wi-Fi logo does not
necessarily imply a device is incompatible with Wi-Fi devices.


12. Who is Hamadoun Toure?

Dr. Hamadoun Tour of Mali has been Secretary General of the International
Telecommunication Union, the specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to
information and communication technologies, since 2007. He was re-elected for a second
four-year term in 2010. Since 2007, he has worked to fulfil ITU's mandate to 'connect the
world' and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. He actively promoted the ITU
Connect series of events, with the first one, Connect Africa, being held in Kigali, Rwanda, in
2007. Connect Africa raised US$ 55 billion in investment pledges to improve Africa's
telecommunications infrastructure over seven years. In the first two years, 2008 and 2009,
US$ 22 billion was invested in ICT infrastructure, mainly for mobile communications.

13. What is the international telecommunication union (ITU) and where is it headquartered?

An organization based on public-private partnership since its inception, ITU currently has a
membership of 193 countries and over 700 private-sector entities and academic institutions. ITU
is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has twelve regional and area offices around the
world.

14. Name the three ITU sectors?

The Telecommunication Standardization Sector, ITU-T
The Telecommunication Development Sector, ITU-D
The Radiocommunication Sector, ITU-R

15. What does the RS in RS-232 stand for and which organization introduced it?

RS-232 was first introduced in 1962 by the Radio Sector of the EIA. The original DTEs were
electromechanical teletypewriters, and the original DCEs were (usually) modems. When
electronic terminals (smart and dumb) began to be used, they were often designed to be
interchangeable with teletypewriters, and so supported RS-232. The C revision of the
standard was issued in 1969 in part to accommodate the electrical characteristics of these
devices.

16. What is spacewire?

SpaceWire is a standard for high-speed links and networks for use onboard spacecraft,
easing the interconnection of:
sensors
mass-memories
processing units, and
downlink telemetry sub-systems.

17. What is the mission of the ISOC and where are its headquarters located?

The Society will be a non-profit organization and will be operated for international
educational, charitable, and scientific purposes, among which are:

To facilitate and support the technical evolution of the Internet as a research and
education infrastructure and to stimulate involvement of the academic, scientific, and
engineering communities (among others) in the evolution of the Internet.

To educate the academic and scientific communities and the public concerning the
technology, use, and application of the Internet.

To promote scientific and educational applications of Internet technology for the benefit
of educational institutions at all grade levels, industry, and the public at large.

To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet applications and to foster
collaboration among organizations in their operation and use of the Internet.


18. What organizations does the IAB oversee?
It oversees a number of Task Forces, of which the most important are the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF).

19. What organization oversees the IAB?

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is the committee charged with oversight of the
technical and engineering development of the Internet by the Internet Society (ISoc).

20. When was the ISO founded and where are its headquarters located?

Founded on 23 February 1947, the organization promotes worldwide proprietary, industrial
and commercial standards. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Part 2: Reflect on internet and computer networking experiences

1. How do the internet standard allow for greater commerce? What potential problems could we
have if we did not have the IEEE?

IEEE makes standards for manufacturers to follow. Without those standards, there would more
"proprietary" hardware, and said hardware would be more expensive.

2. What potential problems could we have if we did not have the W3C?

No communication means no business, exchanging information or data equal zero.

3. What can we learn from the example of the Wi-Fi alliance with regard to the necessity of
networking standards?


Wi-Fi Alliance is a trade association that promotes Wi-Fi technology and certifies Wi-Fi products
if they conform to certain standards of interoperability. Not every IEEE 802.11-compliant device
is submitted for certification to the Wi-Fi Alliance, sometimes because of costs associated with
the certification process. The lack of the Wi-Fi logo does not necessarily imply a device is
incompatible with Wi-Fi devices.