The IETF in the Large: Administration and Execution
RFC 3716
Network Working Group IAB Advisory Committee
Request for Comments: 3716 IETF
Category: Informational March 2004
The IETF in the Large: Administration and Execution
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
In the fall of 2003, the IETF Chair and the IAB Chair formed an IAB
Advisory Committee (AdvComm), with a mandate to review the existing
IETF administrative structure and relationships (RFC Editor, IETF
Secretariat, IANA) and to propose changes to the IETF management
process or structure to improve the overall functioning of the IETF.
The AdvComm mandate did not include the standards process itself.
This memo documents the AdvComm's findings and proposals.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1. Overview of the AdvComm Work Process and Output. . . . 3
1.2. Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3. Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2. Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1. Current IETF Support Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1.1. What the Term IETF Includes in this Document . 4
2.1.2. Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1.3. Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2. Observed Stress Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.1. Stress Points Observed by IETF Leadership. . . 8
2.2.2. Stress Points Observed by Organizations
Supporting the IETF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3. A final Observation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3. Stand Facing the Future: Requirements for a Successful
IETF Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.1. Resource Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.1.1. Uniform Budgetary Responsibility . . . . . . . 10
IAB Advisory Committee Informational [Page 1]
RFC 3716 The IETF: Administration and Execution March 2004
3.1.2. Revenue Source Equivalence . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1.3. Clarity in Relationship with Supporting
Organizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1.4. Flexibility in Service Provisioning. . . . . . 11
3.1.5. Administrative Efficiency. . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2. Stewardship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2.1. Accountability for Change. . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2.2. Persistence and Accessibility of Records . . . 12
3.3. Working Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3.1. Service Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3.2. Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4. Advisory Committee Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.1. Proposed: (Single) Formalized IETF Organizational
Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.1.1. Comments on the Necessity of this
Formalization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.2. Possible Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.2.1. ISOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2.2. ISOC Subsidiary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2.3. Completely Autonomous Organizational Entity. . 16
4.3. Who Can Decide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5. Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
A. IAB Advisory Committee Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
B. Input from the current IETF and IAB Chairs . . . . . . . . . 20
C. Consultation with ISI: RFC Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
D. Consultation with Foretec/CNRI: Secretariat and Meeting
Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
E. Consultation with ICANN: IANA Protocol Parameter
Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1. Introduction
In the fall of 2003, the IETF Chair and the IAB Chair formed an IAB
Advisory Committee (AdvComm), with a mandate to review the existing
IETF administrative structure and relationships (RFC Editor, IETF
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