Applicability Statement for Reclassification of RFC 1643 to Historic Status

Network Working Group                                           J. Flick
Request for Comments: 3638                       Hewlett-Packard Company
Obsoletes: 1643                                                 C. Heard
Category: Informational                                       Consultant
                                                          September 2003


            Applicability Statement for Reclassification of
                      RFC 1643 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 (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo recommends that RFC 1643 be reclassified as an Historic
   document and provides the supporting motivation for that
   recommendation.

1.  Details

   STD 50, RFC 1643 [RFC1643], "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
   Ethernet-like Interface Types", and its SMIv2 equivalent, RFC 1650
   [RFC1650], are applicable to half-duplex 10 Mb/s Ethernet interfaces
   only.  Subsequent to the 1994 publication of these documents, 100
   Mb/s, 1000 Mb/s, and 10 Gb/s Ethernet interface types have been
   developed, and full-duplex operation at 10 Mb/s has been
   standardized.  Updates to RFC 1650 have been produced to accommodate
   these new technologies [RFC2358] [RFC2665] [RFC2666] [RFC3635].
   These updates define new MIB objects to supplement those defined in
   RFC 1643 and RFC 1650 and in addition deprecate some of the objects
   in RFC 1643 and RFC 1650 that are no longer considered useful.  They
   also levy a requirement for implementations of the EtherLike-MIB to
   support the MAU-MIB [RFC2239] [RFC2668] [RFC3636] as well.

   RFC 1643 is an obsolete specification, overtaken by events.  Its
   SMIv2 equivalent, RFC 1650, was officially retired in 1998.  New
   implementations -- even those that support only half-duplex 10 Mb/s
   interfaces -- should comply with in the latest version of the
   specification, currently RFC 3635 [RFC3635] and RFC 2666 [RFC2666],
   instead of RFC 1643.  It is therefore recommended that RFC 1643 be
   reclassified as an Historic document.

2.  Effect on Other Standards Track Documents

   Reclassification of RFC 1643 will have no impact on the status of any
   standards track RFC because no standards track RFC cites it as a
   normative reference.  An RFC content search made with the tools
   available at http://www.rfc-editor.org reveals the following
   standards track documents that cite RFC 1643:

      Document               Title
      --------               -----

      RFC 2020         IEEE 802.12 Interface MIB

      RFC 2358         Definitions of Managed Objects for the
                       Ethernet-like Interface Types

      RFC 2665         Definitions of Managed Objects for the
                       Ethernet-like Interface Types

      RFC 2720         Traffic Flow Measurement: Meter MIB

      RFC 3635         Definitions of Managed Objects for the
                       Ethernet-like Interface Types

   RFC 2020 [RFC2020] contains DOT12-IF-MIB, which is the MIB module for
   managing IEEE 802.12 100VG-AnyLAN interfaces.  It refers to RFC 1643
   in the context of an admonition not to implement the EtherLike-MIB
   for any interface where the DOT12-IF-MIB is implemented.

   RFC 2358 [RFC2358], RFC 2665 [RFC2665], and RFC 3635 [RFC3635] all
   contain updated versions of the EtherLike-MIB.  They refer to RFC
   1643 in the context of explaining the history of the EtherLike-MIB,
   and the citation in RFC 3635 is explicitly listed as a non-normative
   reference.

   RFC 2720 [RFC2720] contains the FLOW-METER-MIB.  It refers to RFC
   1643 only in an ASN.1 comment in the MIB module.  Omission of that
   comment would not preclude correct implementation of the MIB module.

   Clearly, none of these citations are normative.

3.  Security Considerations

   Reclassification of RFC 1643 will not, in and of itself, have any
   effect on the security of the Internet.

4.  Normative References

   [RFC1643]   Kastenholz, F., "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
               Ethernet-like Interface Types", STD 50, RFC 1643, July
               1994.

   [RFC1650]   Kastenholz, F., "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
               Ethernet-like Interface Types using SMIv2", RFC 1650,
               August 1994.

   [RFC2020]   Flick, J., "IEEE 802.12 Interface MIB", RFC 2020, October
               1996.

   [RFC2239]   de Graaf, K., Romascanu, D., McMaster, D., McCloghrie, K.
               and S. Roberts, "Definitions of Managed Objects for IEEE
               802.3 Medium Attachment Units (MAUs) using SMIv2", RFC
               2239, November 1997.

   [RFC2358]   Flick, J. and J. Johnson, "Definitions of Managed Objects
               for the Ethernet-like Interface Types", RFC 2358, June
               1998.

   [RFC2665]   Flick, J. and J. Johnson, "Definitions of Managed Objects
               for the Ethernet-like Interface Types", RFC 2665, August
               1999.

   [RFC2666]   Flick, J., "Definitions of Object Identifiers for
               Identifying Ethernet Chip Sets", RFC 2666, August 1999.

   [RFC2668]   Smith, A., Flick, J., deGraaf, K., Romascanu, D.,
               McMaster, D., McCloghrie, K. and S. Roberts, "Definitions
               of Managed Objects for IEEE 802.3 Medium Attachment Units
               (MAUs)", RFC 2668, August 1999.

   [RFC2720]   Brownlee, N., "Traffic Flow Measurement: Meter MIB", RFC
               2720, October 1999.

   [RFC3635]   Flick, J., "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
               Ethernet-like Interface Types", RFC 3635, September 2003.

   [RFC3636]   Flick, J., "Definitions of Managed Objects for IEEE 802.3
               Medium Attachment Units (MAUs)", RFC 3636, September
               2003.

5.  Authors' Addresses

   John Flick
   Hewlett-Packard Company
   8000 Foothills Blvd.  M/S 5557
   Roseville, CA 95747-5557
   USA

   Phone: +1 916 785 4018
   Fax:   +1 916 785 1199
   EMail: johnf@rose.hp.com


   C. M. Heard
   600 Rainbow Dr. #141
   Mountain View, CA 94041-2542
   USA

   Phone: +1 650 964 8391
   EMail: heard@pobox.com

6.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assignees.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.