rfc1177.txt

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Network Working Group                                          G. Malkin
Request for Comments: 1177                            FTP Software, Inc.
FYI: 4                                                         A. Marine
                                                                     SRI
                                                             J. Reynolds
                                                                     ISI
                                                             August 1990


                      FYI on Questions and Answers
        Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions

Status of this Memo

   This FYI RFC is one of three FYI's called, "Questions and Answers"
   (Q/A), produced by the User Services Working Group (USWG) of the
   Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).  The goal is to document the
   most commonly asked questions and answers in the Internet.

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify any standard.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction....................................................   1
   2. Acknowledgements................................................   2
   3. Questions About the Internet....................................   2
   4. Questions About TCP/IP..........................................   3
   5. Questions About Internet Documentation..........................   4
   6. Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts.............   6
   7. Questions About Services........................................   9
   8. Mailing Lists...................................................  11
   9. References......................................................  11
   10. Suggested Reading..............................................  12
   11. Condensed Glossary.............................................  12
   12. Security Considerations........................................  23
   13. Authors' Addresses.............................................  24

1. Introduction

   New users joining the Internet community for the first time have had
   the same questions as did everyone else who has ever joined.  Our
   quest is to provide the Internet community with up to date, basic
   Internet knowledge and experience, while moving the redundancies away
   from the electronic mailing lists so that the lists' subscribers do
   not have to read the same queries and answers over and over again.

   Future updates of this memo will be produced as USWG members become



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   aware of additional questions that should be included, and of
   deficiencies or inaccuracies that should be amended in this document.
   Additional FYI Q/A's will be published which will deal with
   intermediate and advanced Q/A topics.

   The Q/A mailing lists are maintained by Gary Malkin at FTP.COM.  They
   are used by a subgroup of the USWG to discuss the Q/A FYIs.  They
   include:

   [e-mail]           This is a discussion mailing list.  Its
                           primary use is for pre-release (to the
                           USWG) review of the Q/A FYIs.

   [e-mail]   This is how you join the quail mailing list.

   [e-mail]       This is where the questions and answers
                           will be forwarded-and-stored.  It is
                           not necessary to be on the quail mailing
                           list to forward to the quail-box.

2. Acknowledgements

   The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions
   to the FYI Q/As: Berlin Moore (PREPNet), Craig Partridge (BBN),
   Jon Postel (ISI), Karen Roubicek (BBNST), James Van Bokkelen (FTP
   Software, Inc.), John Wobus (Syracuse University), and David Paul
   Zimmerman (Rutgers).

3. Questions About the Internet

   I just got on the Internet.  What can I do now?

      You now have access to all the resources you are authorized to use
      on your own Internet host, on any other Internet host on which you
      have an account, and on any other Internet host that offers
      publicly accessible information.  The Internet gives you the
      ability to move information between these hosts via file
      transfers.  Once you are logged into one host, you can use the
      Internet to open a connection to another, log in, and use its
      services interactively.  In addition, you can send electronic mail
      to users at any Internet site and to users on many non-Internet
      sites that are accessible via electronic mail.

      There are various other services you can use.  For example, some
      hosts provide access to specialized databases or to archives of
      information.  The Internet Resource Guide provides information
      regarding some of these sites.  The Internet Resource Guide lists
      facilities on the Internet that are available to users.  Such



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      facilities include supercomputer centers, library catalogs and
      specialized data collections.  The guide is published by the NSF
      Network Service Center (NNSC) and is continuously being updated.
      The Resource Guide is distributed free via e-mail (send a note to
      [e-mail] to join the e-mail
      distribution) and via anonymous FTP (in nnsc.nsf.net:resource-
      guide/*).  Hardcopy is available at a nominal fee (to cover
      reproduction costs) from the NNSC.  Call the NNSC at 617-873-3400
      for more information.

   How do I find out if a site has a computer on the Internet?

      Three good sources to consult are "!%@:: A Directory of Electronic
      Mail Addressing and Networks" by Donnalyn Frey and Rick Adams;
      "The User's Directory to Computer Networks", by Tracy LaQuey; and
      "The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems
      Worldwide", by John Quarterman.

      In addition, it is possible to find some information about
      Internet sites in the WHOIS database maintained at the DDN NIC at
      SRI International.  The DDN NIC provides an information retrieval
      interface to the database that is also called WHOIS.  To use this
      interface, Telnet to NIC.DDN.MIL and type "whois" (carriage
      return).  No login is necessary.  Type "help" at the whois prompt
      for more information on using the facility.  WHOIS will show many
      sites, but may not show every site registered with the DDN NIC
      (simply for reasons having to do with how the program is set up to
      search the database).

4. Questions About TCP/IP

   What is TCP/IP?

      TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) [4,5,6]
      is the common name for a family of data-communications protocols
      used to tie computers and data-communications equipment into
      computer networks.  TCP/IP originated for use on a network called
      ARPANET, but it is currently used on a large international network
      of universities, other research institutions, government
      facilities, and some corporations called the Internet.  TCP/IP is
      also sometimes used for other networks, particularly local area
      networks that tie together numerous different kinds of computers
      or tie together engineering workstations.

   What are the other standard protocols in the TCP/IP family?

      Other than TCP and IP, the three main protocols in the TCP/IP
      suite are the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), the File



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      Transfer Protocol (FTP), and the Telnet Protocol.  There are many
      other protocols in use on the Internet.  The Internet Activities
      Board (IAB) regularly publishes an RFC [2] that describes the
      state of standardization of the various Internet protocols.  This
      document is the best guide to the current status of Internet
      protocols and their recommended usage.

5. Questions About Internet Documentation

   What is an RFC?

      The Request for Comments documents (RFCs) are working notes of the
      Internet research and development community.  A document in this
      series may be on essentially any topic related to computer
      communication, and may be anything from a meeting report to the
      specification of a standard.  Submissions for Requests for
      Comments may be sent to the RFC Editor, Jon Postel
      ([e-mail]).

      Most RFCs are the descriptions of network protocols or services,
      often giving detailed procedures and formats providing the
      information necessary for creating implementations.  Other RFCs
      report on the results of policy studies or summarize the work of
      technical committees or workshops.

      While RFCs are not refereed publications, they do receive
      technical review from either the task forces, individual technical
      experts, or the RFC Editor, as appropriate.  Currently, most
      standards are published as RFCs, but not all RFCs specify
      standards.

      Anyone can submit a document for publication as an RFC.
      Submissions must be made via electronic mail to the RFC Editor.
      RFCs are distributed online by being stored as public access
      files, and a short message is sent to the distribution list
      indicating the availability of the memo.  Requests to be added to
      this distribution list should be sent to [e-mail].

      The online files are copied by interested people and printed or
      displayed at their sites on their equipment.  (An RFC may also be
      returned via electronic mail in response to an electronic mail
      query.) This means that the format of the online files must meet
      the constraints of a wide variety of printing and display
      equipment.

      Once a document is assigned an RFC number and published, that RFC
      is never revised or re-issued with the same number.  There is
      never a question of having the most recent version of a particular



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      RFC.  However, a protocol (such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP))
      may be improved and re-documented many times in several different
      RFCs.  It is important to verify that you have the most recent RFC
      on a particular protocol.  The "IAB Official Protocol Standards"
      [2] memo is the reference for determining the correct RFC to refer
      to for the current specification of each protocol.

   How do I obtain RFCs?

      RFCs can be obtained via FTP from NIC.DDN.MIL, with the pathname
      RFC:RFCnnnn.TXT or RFC:RFCnnnn.PS (where "nnnn" refers to the
      number of the RFC).  Login with FTP, username "anonymous" and
      password "guest".  The NIC also provides an automatic mail service
      for those sites which cannot use FTP.  Address the request to
      [e-mail] and in the subject field of the message
      indicate the RFC number, as in "Subject: RFC nnnn" (or "Subject:
      RFC nnnn.PS" for PostScript RFCs).

      RFCs can also be obtained via FTP from NIS.NSF.NET.  Using FTP,
      login with username "anonymous" and password "guest"; then connect
      to the RFC directory ("cd RFC").  The file name is of the form
      RFCnnnn.TXT-1 (where "nnnn" refers to the number of the RFC).  The
      NIS also provides an automatic mail service for those sites which
      cannot use FTP.  Address the request to [e-mail] and
      leave the subject field of the message blank.  The first line of
      the text of the message must be "SEND RFCnnnn.TXT-1", where nnnn
      is replaced by the RFC number.

      Requests for special distribution should be addressed to either
      the author of the RFC in question, or to [e-mail].  Unless
      specifically noted otherwise on the RFC itself, all RFCs are for
      unlimited distribution.

   Which RFCs are Standards?

      See "IAB Official Protocol Standards" (currently, RFC 1140) [2].

   How do I obtain OSI Standards documents from the Internet?

      OSI Standards documents are NOT available from the Internet via
      anonymous FTP due to copyright restrictions.  These are available
      from:

         Omnicom Information Service
         501 Church Street NE
         Suite 304
         Vienna, VA  22180  USA
         Telephone: [phone] or [phone] Fax: [phone]



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6. Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts

   What is the IAB?

      The Internet Activities Board (IAB) is the coordinating committee
      for Internet design, engineering and management [7].  IAB members
      are deeply committed to making the Internet function effectively
      and evolve to meet a large scale, high speed future.  The chairman
      serves a term of two years and is elected by the members of the
      IAB.  The current Chair of the IAB is Vint Cerf.  The IAB focuses
      on the TCP/IP protocol suite, and extensions to the Internet
      system to support multiple protocol suites.

      The IAB performs the following functions:

         1)   Sets Internet Standards,

         2)   Manages the RFC publication process,

         3)   Reviews the operation of the IETF and IRTF,

         4)   Performs strategic planning for the Internet, identifying
              long-range problems and opportunities,

         5)   Acts as an international technical policy liaison and
              representative for the Internet community, and

         6)   Resolves technical issues which cannot be treated within
              the IETF or IRTF frameworks.

      The IAB has two principal subsidiary task forces:

         1)  Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

         2)  Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)

      Each of these Task Forces is led by a chairman and guided by a
      Steering Group which reports to the IAB through its chairman.  For
      the most part, a collection of Research or Working Groups carries
      out the work program of each Task Force.

      All decisions of the IAB are made public.  The principal vehicle
      by which IAB decisions are propagated to the parties interested in
      the Internet and its TCP/IP protocol suite is the Request for
      Comments (RFC) note series and the Internet Monthly Report.