Standards Organizations

A wide variety of organizations contribute to internetworking standards by providing forums for discussion, turning informal discussion into formal specifications and proliferating specifications after they are standardized.

Most standards organizations create formal standards by using specific processes. Such as : organizing ideas, discussing the approach, developing draft standards, voting on all or certain aspects of the standards and then formally releasing the completed standard to the public.

Some of the best-known standards organizations that contribute to internetworking standards include these:

• International Organization for Standardization (ISO) - ISO is an international standards organization responsible for a wide range of standards, including many that are relevant to networking. Its best-known contribution is the development of the OSI reference model and the OSI protocol suite.

• American National Standards Institute (ANSI) - ANSI, which is also a member of the ISO, is the coordinating body for voluntary standards groups within the United States. ANSI developed the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and other communications standards.

• Electronic Industries Association (EIA) - EIA specifies electrical transmission standards, including those used in networking. The EIA developed the widely used EIA/TIA-232 standard (formerly known as RS-232).

• Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) - IEEE is a professional organization that defines networking and other standards. The IEEE developed the widely used LAN standards IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.5.

• International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) - Formerly called the Committee for International Telegraph and Telephone (CCITT), ITU-T is now an international organization that develops communication standards. The ITU-T developed X.25 and other communications standards.

• Internet Activities Board (IAB) - IABis a group of internetwork researchers who discuss issues pertinent to the Internet and set Internet policies through decisions and task forces. The IAB designates some Request for Comments (RFC) documents as Internet standards, including Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).