Internet Protocol Handbook: Table of contents
Draft outline for a handbook of internet protocols
Postel, J., "Internet Protocol Handbook: Table of contents", RFC 766, DOI 10.17487/RFC0766, July 1980, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc766>.
@misc{rfc766,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 766,
howpublished = {RFC 766},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0766},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc766},
author = {J. Postel},
title = {{Internet Protocol Handbook: Table of contents}},
pagetotal = 2,
year = 1980,
month = jul,
} RFC text
Network Working Group J. Postel
Request for Comments: 766 ISI
July 1980
Obsoletes: IENs 94, 118
Internet Protocol Handbook
In recent years the ARPA Network Research Program has had as one concern
the interconnection of networks. In the course of this research a
family of protocols suitable for an internetwork environment has
emerged. Much of this work is documented in a series of project memos
called Internet Experiment Notes or IENs. A few of these IENs document
protocols in the internet protocol family. Most of the major internet
protocol documents have also been issued as RFCs.
The situation has evolved to the point that it is appropriate for the
internet family of protocols to replace the old ARPANET protocols. To
this end an Internet Protocol Handbook will be prepared by the Network
Information Center. This Handbook is tentatively planned to be
available at the end of 1980. This Internet Protocol Handbook will
closely parallel the old ARPANET Protocol Handbook, and will primarily
be a collection of existing RFCs and IENs.
Attached is the current draft table of contents for the Internet
Protocol Handbook. Any suggestions for additions should be sent to Jon
Postel (Postel@ISIF).
RFCs and IENs are public access document files and may be copied from
the Network Information Center online Library at SRI-KL via FTP using
the FTP user name ANONYMOUS and password GUEST. The IENs have pathnames
of the form "<NETINFO>IEN-nnn.TXT", and the RFCs have pathnames of the
form "<NETINFO>RFCnnn.TXT", where "nnn" is replaced by the document
number. [Note the inconsistency: IENs have a hyphen in the pathname,
RFCs don't.]
RFC 766
Internet Protocol Handbook
Table of Contents
Gateway Level
Internet Datagram Protocol RFC-760 IEN-128
How to Build a Gateway IEN-109
Gateway Monitoring Protocol IEN-131
Host Level
User Datagram Protocol IEN-88
Transmission Control Protocol RFC-761 IEN-129
Multiplexing Protocol IEN-90
Application Level
Time Server Protocol IEN-142
Name Server Protocol IEN-116
Trivial File Transfer Protocol IEN-133
Telnet Protocol RFC-764 IEN-148
File Transfer Protocol RFC-765 IEN-149
Internet Message Protocol RFC-753 IEN-85
Appendices
Assigned Numbers RFC-762 IEN-127
Protocol Options IEN-114
Address Mappings IEN-115
Document File Format Standards RFC-678
Mail Header Format Standards RFC-733
AI ELI5
On this page
§1Background
As the ARPA Network Research Program's work on interconnecting networks matured, a family of internet protocols emerged from research documented in Internet Experiment Notes (IENs) and RFCs. By 1980, the internet protocol family had grown mature enough to replace the old ARPANET protocols. RFC 766 announces that an Internet Protocol Handbook will be compiled by the Network Information Center to serve as the authoritative reference for this new protocol family, paralleling the old ARPANET Protocol Handbook.
The internet protocols were documented in scattered memos. This memo says there will be a handbook collecting them all in one organized place.
§2Proposed Contents
The draft handbook organizes protocols by layer. Gateway Level covers the Internet Datagram Protocol (IP), gateway building, and gateway monitoring. Host Level includes User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and multiplexing. Application Level encompasses time, name, and file transfer services, Telnet, and mail protocols. Appendices cover assigned numbers, protocol options, address mappings, and mail standards.
Most of these protocols already existed as either IENs or RFCs. The handbook was to be a compilation and organization of existing documents rather than new specifications.
The handbook would sort protocols into layers: how to send data, how to manage connections, and what applications can do. Most were already written; they just needed to be collected.
§3Accessing the Documents
At the time of RFC 766, RFCs and IENs were available for download from the Network Information Center at SRI-KL via FTP. IENs had pathnames like <NETINFO>IEN-nnn.TXT while RFCs used <NETINFO>RFCnnn.TXT (note the different hyphenation). The RFC notes that this naming inconsistency made it easy to confuse the two document types.
You could get the documents from a computer at Stanford using FTP, using special folder names to find IENs or RFCs.