Local Area Network

Objectives

Part 1: Research Networking Standards Organizations

• Gather information about the major networking standards organizations by going on a web surfing treasure hunt.

• Identify important characteristics of some of the organizations.

Part 2: Reflect on Internet and Computer Networking Experiences

• Reflect on how the various networking standards organizations enhance our experience of the Internet and computer networking.

Background / Scenario

Using web search engines like Google, research the non-profit organizations that are responsible for establishing international standards for the Internet and the development of Internet technologies.

Required Resources

Device with Internet access

Part 1: Research Networking Standards Organizations

In Part 1, you will identify some of the major standards organizations and important characteristics, such as the number of years in existence, the size of their membership, the important historical figures, some of the responsibilities and duties, organizational oversight role, and the location of the organization’s headquarters.

Use a web browser or websites for various organizations to research information about the following organizations and the people who have been instrumental in maintaining them.

You can find answers to the questions below by searching the following organizational acronyms and terms:

ISO, ITU, ICANN, IANA, IEEE, EIA, TIA, ISOC, IAB, IETF, W3C, RFC, and Wi-Fi Alliance.

1.    Who is Jonathan B. Postel and what is he known for?

Jonathan B. Postel American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards.

He is known principally for being the Editor of the Request for Comment (RFC) document series, and for administering the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) until his death. In his lifetime he was known as the God of the Internet for his comprehensive influence on the medium

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 main fathers of the Internet. What Internet organizations did he chair or help found? What Internet technologies did he help to develop?

Known as a “Father of the Internet,” Cerf is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the Internet. -Began his work at the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -leading the development of Internet and Internet-related data packet and security technologies. Served as vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google and as chairman of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

4.    What organization is responsible for publishing Request for Comments (RFC)?

Internet Architecture Board (IAB): Responsible for defining the overall architecture of the Internet, providing guidance and broad direction to the IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF): The protocol engineering and development arm of the Internet

Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG): Responsible for technical management of IETF activities and the Internet standards process

Lab - Researching Networking Standards

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

Both RFC 349 and RFC 1700 have an Assigned number and both have wide standard functions. They also offer applications that offer link, socket, port, and protocol.

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

RFC never changes. Modifications to an original RFC are assigned a new RFC number . Share to: ... without skipping a number . So, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , 8, 9

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. It was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT/LCS)

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

1.       CGI

2.       CSS

3.       DOM

4.       GRDDL

5.       HTML

6.       MathML

7.       OWL

8.       P3P

9.       RDF

10.   SISR

9. Where is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) headquarters located and what is the significance of its logo?

Corporate office in New York City and its operations center in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States

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

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2 are concurrent security standards. WPA addressed the majority of the IEEE 802.11i standard; and the WPA2 certification achieved full compliance. However, WPA2 will not work with some older network cards, thus the need for concurrent security standards.

Applicable to both WPA and WPA2, there are two versions targeting different users:

·         WPA-Personal was developed for home and small office use and requires no authentication server; and each wireless device uses the same 256-bit authentication key.

·         WPA-Enterprise was developed for large businesses and requires a RADIUS authentication server that provides automatic key generation and authentication throughout the entire enterprise.

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

Wi-Fi Alliance is a non-profit organization 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 Wi-Fi Alliance owns the Wi-Fi trademark. Manufacturers may use the trademark to brand certified products that have been tested for interoperability.

12. Who is Hamadoun Touré?

Dr.Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) since January 2007, was re-elected for a second four-year term in October 2010.

13. What is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and where is it headquartered?

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), originally the International Telegraph Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies.

The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards. 

Where is it headquartered? Geneva, Switzerland

14. Name the three ITU sectors?

·         Radio communication (ITU-R)

·         Standardization (ITU-T)

·         Development (ITU-D)

·         ITU TELECOM

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

RS-232C. RS-232 stands for Recommend Standard number 232 and C is the latest revision of the standard. The serial ports on most computers use a subset of the RS-232C standard.

16. What is SpaceWire?

SpaceWire is a spacecraft communication network based in part on the IEEE 1355 standard of communications. It is coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with international space agencies including NASA, JAXA and RKA.

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

Mission is "to promote the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world".

headquarters located : Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geneva, Switzerland

Lab - Researching Networking Standards

18. What organizations does the IAB oversee?

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).

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?

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Research Task Force (IRTF).

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

Take a moment to think about the Internet today in relation to the organizations and technologies you have just researched. Then answer the following questions.

1.    How do the Internet standards allow for greater commerce?

means you can just go online and order something, instead of having to send an order via telegraph, heliograph, carrier pigeon and pony express and probably have the address translated 3 times.

Or back in 1985 or so I could send email, but it probably had to go through a couple of gateways between DECnet and Bitnet and Arpanet, and there weren't any attachments, or ways to represent any language other than English, and hardly any vendors had email anyway so you'd have to use telex, or fax, or paper documents.

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.

For example,
If you pick up an internet-capable electronic device, it is going to have some form of 802.xxx, which is a standard set by the IEEE, whether it be 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.3, etc.
Without those standards, any given electronic device could have a different method of data transfer to connect to a network, and that particular method of connecting would have to be matched with the corresponding router.

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

The guidelines for the Internet and the way it works will no longer be processed enough.

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

The Alliance also certifies products that comply with its specifications for Wi-Fiinteroperability, security and application-specific protocols. However, certification is not mandatory and absence of the Wi-Fi Alliance Certified logo does not imply a lack of compatibility.

With the help of a marketing company called Interbrand, the organization renamed the IEEE(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11b Direct Sequence standard Wi-Fi. WECA changed its name to the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2002. The organization's headquarters are in Austin, Texas.