Request to Move STD 39 to Historic Status
Retiring a 1970s ARPANET host-to-switch interface standard that is no longer in use.
Braden, R., Bush, R., and J. Klensin, "Request to Move STD 39 to Historic Status", RFC 3109, DOI 10.17487/RFC3109, May 2001, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3109>.
@misc{rfc3109,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 3109,
howpublished = {RFC 3109},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC3109},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3109},
author = {R. Braden and R. Bush and J. Klensin},
title = {{Request to Move STD 39 to Historic Status}},
pagetotal = 4,
year = 2001,
month = may,
} RFC text
Contents
Network Working Group R. Braden
Request for Comments: 3109 ISI
Category: Informational R. Bush
RGnet
J. Klensin
AT&T
May 2001
Request to Move STD 39 to Historic Status
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 (2001). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This memo changes the status of STD 39, BBN Report 1822,
"Specification of the Interconnection of a Host and an IMP", from
Standard to Historic.
1. Introduction
The Internet design grew out of the pioneering packet-switched
network called the ARPAnet. The ARPAnet was a mostly-US national
network built of mini-computer packet switches, called Interface
Message Processors (IMPs), that were linked by 56kbps leased
telephone lines. The IMPs were designed and built by Bolt, Beranek,
and Neumann (BBN) under contract with ARPA, beginning in 1968. One
of BBN's first tasks was to define the standard hardware interface
between a host and a colocated IMP. This interface was described in
BBN Report 1822 [BBN1822], which was a bible for the administrators
of the many different hosts that connected to the ARPAnet.
The BBN Report 1822 host/IMP hardware interface was bit-serial and
asynchronous. In 1968, the 8-bit byte had not yet been adopted as an
industry standard, so the interface had to cope with word-based
machines with arbitrary word length -- some common word lengths were
8, 12, 16, 24, 36, and 60, but there were others. From the software
viewpoint, Report 1822 defined what would today be called the link-
layer access protocol for the ARPAnet.
In 1983 the US DoD moved the ARPAnet technology to TCP/IP and split
off parts of the ARPAnet to form a production facility called MILNET.
The DoD mandated a byte-oriented, X.25-based interface for the MILNET
IMPs. However, the machines on the research-oriented ARPAnet
continued to use the 1822 interface under the new Internet protocol
suite. Therefore, BBN Report 1822 was made an Internet Standard, STD
39, although the report was not republished as an RFC.
2. Action
Since the ARPAnet technology and the BBN 1822 interface are no longer
in use, the IESG is moving BBN Report 1822 from Standard to Historic
status. The STD number 39 is retired.
3. Security Considerations
Moving STD 39 to historic has no known effect on the security of the
Internet.
4. References
[BBN1822] STD 39 is BBN Report 1822 "Specification for the
Interconnection of a Host and an IMP". This can be ordered
from Bolt, Beranek, and Newman, 10 Moulton Street,
Cambridge, MA 02138.
5. Authors' Addresses
Robert Braden
USC/Information Sciences Institute
4676 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6695
Phone: +1 310-822-1511
EMail: braden@isi.edu
Randy Bush
5147 Crystal Springs
Bainbridge Island, WA US-98110
Phone: +1 206-780-0431
EMail: randy@psg.com
John C. Klensin
1770 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 322
Cambridge, MA 02140, USA
EMail: klensin@jck.com
6. Full Copyright Statement
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved.
This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
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Acknowledgement
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
Internet Society.
AI ELI5
On this page
§1The ARPANET Host-IMP Interface
BBN Report 1822 specified the hardware interface between a host computer and an Interface Message Processor (IMP), the packet switches that made up the ARPANET. The specification had to handle hosts with arbitrary word lengths (8, 12, 16, 24, 36, 60 bits and others) because the 8-bit byte standard had not yet been adopted in 1968.
The 1822 interface was bit-serial and asynchronous. From a software perspective, it defined the link-layer access protocol for ARPANET. BBN Report 1822 was published in the 1960s by Bolt, Beranek, and Newman under ARPA contract and became a standard reference for ARPANET administrators.
A company invented the wires and plugs that connected old computers to the early Internet. They wrote a manual for it.
§2Transition to TCP/IP and Retirement
In 1983, the US Department of Defense moved ARPANET to TCP/IP and split it into ARPANET (research) and MILNET (military production). The military mandated a byte-oriented, X.25-based interface for MILNET IMPs. However, the research ARPANET continued to use the 1822 interface under the new Internet protocol suite.
BBN Report 1822 was made an Internet Standard (STD 39) in 1983, even though it was never published as an RFC. By 2001, the ARPANET itself no longer existed and no host-IMP connections using 1822 remained in operation.
When computers switched to a new Internet system in 1983, the old interface kept working on the research network for a while. But by 2001, nobody was using it anymore.
§3Moving to Historic Status
RFC 3109 formally requests that STD 39 be moved from Standard status to Historic status. Historic RFCs document protocols and technologies that are no longer in use but are preserved for historical reference. The document notes that "ARPANET technology and the BBN 1822 interface are no longer in use" and therefore the standard can be retired.
The RFC includes a brief security consideration: moving STD 39 to historic status has no known effect on Internet security. The STD number 39 is retired and will not be reused.
The Internet engineering committee officially says this old standard is done and moving it to the history section.