Please Whitelist This Site?

I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :)

If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads.

If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide


NOTE: Using software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited.
If you want to read The TCP/IP Guide offline, please consider licensing it. Thank you.

The Book is Here... and Now On Sale!

The whole site in one document for easy reference!
The TCP/IP Guide

Custom Search







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

Previous Topic/Section
Proprietary, Open and De Facto Standards
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
Next Page
International Networking Standards Organizations
Next Topic/Section

Networking Standards

All networking technologies have standards associated with them. These are usually highly technical documents, and often presume that the reader has a fair bit of knowledge about networking. If you aren't an expert, you will probably have some difficulty understanding networking standards. (Some people seem to think I am an expert, but I too have trouble with most of the details in a typical networking standard.)

In fact, many technologies have quite a number of standards associated with them. A networking technology may have more than one standard for any or all of the following reasons:

  • The original standard has been revised or updated;

  • The technology is sufficiently complex that it needs to be described in more than one document;

  • The technology borrows from or builds on documents used in related technologies;

  • More than one organization has been involved in developing the technology.

Standards documents created in the United States are usually developed in English, but are also routinely translated into other languages. European standards are often published simultaneously in English, French and German, and perhaps other languages as well.

Today, virtually all networking standards are “open” standards, administered by a standards organization or industry group. As I explained in the previous topic, open standards are more popular than proprietary ones in the computer industry, and that's particularly so when it comes to networking. In fact, the few technologies where there is no universally-accepted open standard have been losing ground to those with open standards, particularly in the areas of wireless LANs and home networking—pretty much proving how important an open process really is.

I considered having a separate section where I listed all of the various standards used for networking within the Guide. However, this would be a very large section indeed, and the discussions of the various standards would be somewhat “detached” from the places where I describe the technologies they define. Instead, I have many different smaller discussions of standards, within the sections where I describe each networking method or protocol. These can usually be found in an overview topic introducing each technology type, though for more complex protocols I have a dedicated topic just discussing relevant standards and where they are documented.


Previous Topic/Section
Proprietary, Open and De Facto Standards
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
Next Page
International Networking Standards Organizations
Next Topic/Section

If you find The TCP/IP Guide useful, please consider making a small Paypal donation to help the site, using one of the buttons below. You can also donate a custom amount using the far right button (not less than $1 please, or PayPal gets most/all of your money!) In lieu of a larger donation, you may wish to consider purchasing a download license of The TCP/IP Guide. Thanks for your support!
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
Donate $20
Donate $30
Donate: $



Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us

The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005

© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.