Hitchhikers guide to the Internet
RFC 1118
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RFC - Informational
(September 1989; No errata)
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Edward Krol
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Last updated |
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2013-03-02
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Legacy
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plain text
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bibtex
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Consensus Boilerplate |
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IESG |
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RFC 1118 (Informational)
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Network Working Group E. Krol
Request for Comments: 1118 University of Illinois Urbana
September 1989
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet
Status of this Memo
This RFC is being distributed to members of the Internet community in
order to make available some "hints" which will allow new network
participants to understand how the direction of the Internet is set,
how to acquire online information and how to be a good Internet
neighbor. While the information discussed may not be relevant to the
research problems of the Internet, it may be interesting to a number
of researchers and implementors. No standards are defined or
specified in this memo. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
NOTICE:
The hitchhikers guide to the Internet is a very unevenly edited memo
and contains many passages which simply seemed to its editors like a
good idea at the time. It is an indispensable companion to all those
who are keen to make sense of life in an infinitely complex and
confusing Internet, for although it cannot hope to be useful or
informative on all matters, it does make the reassuring claim that
where it is inaccurate, it is at least definitively inaccurate. In
cases of major discrepancy it is always reality that's got it wrong.
And remember, DON'T PANIC. (Apologies to Douglas Adams.)
Purpose and Audience
This document assumes that one is familiar with the workings of a
non-connected simple IP network (e.g., a few 4.3 BSD systems on an
Ethernet not connected to anywhere else). Appendix A contains
remedial information to get one to this point. Its purpose is to get
that person, familiar with a simple net, versed in the "oral
tradition" of the Internet to the point that that net can be
connected to the Internet with little danger to either. It is not a
tutorial, it consists of pointers to other places, literature, and
hints which are not normally documented. Since the Internet is a
dynamic environment, changes to this document will be made regularly.
The author welcomes comments and suggestions. This is especially
true of terms for the glossary (definitions are not necessary).
Krol [Page 1]
RFC 1118 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet September 1989
What is the Internet?
In the beginning there was the ARPANET, a wide area experimental
network connecting hosts and terminal servers together. Procedures
were set up to regulate the allocation of addresses and to create
voluntary standards for the network. As local area networks became
more pervasive, many hosts became gateways to local networks. A
network layer to allow the interoperation of these networks was
developed and called Internet Protocol (IP). Over time other groups
created long haul IP based networks (NASA, NSF, states...). These
nets, too, interoperate because of IP. The collection of all of
these interoperating networks is the Internet.
A few groups provide much of the information services on the
Internet. Information Sciences Institute (ISI) does much of the
standardization and allocation work of the Internet acting as the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). SRI International
provides the principal information services for the Internet by
operating the Network Information Center (NIC). In fact, after you
are connected to the Internet most of the information in this
document can be retrieved from the SRI-NIC. Bolt Beranek and Newman
(BBN) provides information services for CSNET (the CIC) and NSFNET
(the NNSC), and Merit provides information services for NSFNET (the
NIS).
Operating the Internet
Each network, be it the ARPANET, NSFNET or a regional network, has
its own operations center. The ARPANET is run by BBN, Inc. under
contract from DCA (on behalf of DARPA). Their facility is called the
Network Operations Center or NOC. Merit, Inc. operates NSFNET from
yet another and completely seperate NOC. It goes on to the regionals
having similar facilities to monitor and keep watch over the goings
on of their portion of the Internet. In addition, they all should
have some knowledge of what is happening to the Internet in total.
If a problem comes up, it is suggested that a campus network liaison
should contact the network operator to which he is directly
connected. That is, if you are connected to a regional network
(which is gatewayed to the NSFNET, which is connected to the
ARPANET...) and have a problem, you should contact your regional
network operations center.
RFCs
The internal workings of the Internet are defined by a set of
documents called RFCs (Request for Comments). The general process
for creating an RFC is for someone wanting something formalized to
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