Upgrading and Repairing Networks

Standards Organizations

Request for Comments

www.rfc-editor.org

Many of the technologies in this book are detailed in standards documents. Request for Comments (RFCs) documents are the result of an ongoing process to develop and enhance protocols for the Internet. Because it is an ongoing process, not every RFC defines a standard. Instead, some are drafts, some are simply informational, and others are considered to be the current standard. This site is mentioned in several places in this book, but it is mentioned here in case you missed those chapters.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

www.ieee.org

The IEEE, an organization that has been around for a long time, establishes standards for many areas of technology. One area is computers and networking. Some of the 802.x standards are available online in PDF format. Others you can order through the site's bookstore. Most of the basic LAN/MAN/WAN documents, however, are included online for no cost. If you want to get into the details about many networking products, be sure to visit this site.

ISO

www.iso.org

The International Organization for Standardizationalso known as ISOis an organization that coordinates many standards throughout the world. Whereas the IEEE works on standards that cover many areas related to the electrical field of protocols and products, the ISO works to coordinate standards for everything from credit cards and smart cards to steel, tools, food products, and so on. The one area the ISO does not cover is electrical and electronic engineering standards. These types of standards are covered by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). However, information technology standards are a joint effort between the ISO and the IEC.

The ISO is composed of members from all over the world. Each country is allowed one representative standards body for the country, known as a member body of the ISO. Correspondent members come from countries that do not yet have a representative standards body of their own, and that receive information from ISO but do not participate in the development of new standards. A subscriber member is one from a very small country whose economy and other factors do not permit the creation of a standardization body for the country.

As noted elsewhere in this book, the term ISO is not an acronym. This term was chosen from the Greek root meaning "the same," or "equal" (such as in the term isometric). Thus, the ISO name can be used worldwide, in many different languages, without having to use a different acronym for each country.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

www.w3.org

This is the organization that helps to develop standards for protocols, software, tools, and other things to enhance the Internet. This site contains a large number of standards and projects. It is well worth a visit if your network connects to the Internet. Before you decide to deploy a new Internet technology, it would be a good idea to get all the information you can. For example, one of their sites,

www.w3.org/Security/Overview.html

details many developments concerning security on the Web, and also has links to other sites that cover a wide variety of security issues.

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA)

www.snia.org

Learn about SANs and NAS at this site. You can also view the requirements for SNIA certifications. Large networks are consuming an ever-increasing amount of storage, and this site can help you learn about the technology.