The TCP/IP Guide  9  Networking Fundamentals       9  Network Standards and Standards Organizations

Networking Industry Groups 1 2 3 Internet Registration Authorities and Registries (IANA, ICANN, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, RIPE NCC)

The Importance of the IETF

Of these organizations, the IETF is the one that you will most often hear referenced, because that is the organization directly responsible for the development of the majority of Internet standards. It is for this reason that throughout this Guide, whenever I mention Internet standards development efforts, I refer to the IETF as doing the work. This is of course a bit of an oversimplification, since all of these organizations play a role in the standards development process, described in more detail in a separate topic.

I also feel I should re-emphasize that many of these organizations are responsible for a great deal more than just standards development. This is especially true of the Internet Society, for which standardization is just one of many activities. The IAB also performs a number of functions not strictly associated with standards development, including managing the assignment of protocol values done by IANA and acting as a liaison between the Internet standards organizations and other standards bodies.

Networking Industry Groups 1 2 3 Internet Registration Authorities and Registries (IANA, ICANN, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, RIPE NCC)