TCP/IP协议族（第二版）第一章

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

      The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our daily lives. It has affected the way we do business as well as the way we spend our leisure time. Count the ways you’ve used the Internet recently. Perhaps you’ve sent electronic mail (email) to a business associate, paid a utility bill, read a newspaper from a distant city, or looked up a local movie schedule-all by using the Internet. Or, maybe you researched a medical topic, booked a hotel reservation, chatted with a fellow Trekkie, or comparison-shopped for a car. The Internet is a communication system that has brought a wealth of information to our fingertips and organized it for our use.

The Internet is a structured, organized system. Before we discuss how it works and its relationship to TCP/IP, we first give a brief history of the Internet. We then define the concepts of protocols and standards and their relationships to each other. We discuss the various organizations that are involved in the development of Internet standards. These standards are not developed by any specific organization, but rather through a consensus of users. We discuss the mechanism through which these standards originated and matured. Also included in this introductory chapter is a section on Internet administrative groups.

1.1  A BRIEF HISTORY

A network is a group of connected, communicating devices such as computers and printers. An internet (note the lowercase ) is two or more networks that can communicate with each other. The most notable internet is called the Internet (uppercase ), a collaboration of more than hundreds of thousands interconnected networks. Private individuals as well as various organizations such as government agencies, schools, research facilities, corporations, and libraries in more than 100 countries use the Internet. Millions of people are users. Yet this extraordinary communication system only came into being in 1969.

ARPANET

In the mid-1960s, mainframe computers in research organizations were stand-alone devices. Computers from different manufacturers were unable to communicate with one another. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the Department of Defense (DOD) was interested in finding a way to connect computers together so that the researchers they funded could share their findings, thereby reducing costs and eliminating duplication of effort.

In 1967, at an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) meeting, ARPA presented its idea for ARPANET, a small network of connected computers. The idea was that each host computer (not necessarily from the same manufacturer) would be attached to a specialized computer, called an interface message processor (IMP). The IMPs, in turn, would be connected to each other. Each IMP had to be able to communicate with other IMPs as well as with its own attached host.

By 1969, ARPANET was a reality. Four nodes, at the University of California at Los Angles (UCLA), the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), Stanford Research Institute (SRI), and the University of Utah were connected via the IMPs to form a network. Software called the Network Control Protocol (NCP) provided communication between the hosts.

Birth of the Internet

In 1972, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, both of whom were part of the core APRANET group, collaborated on what they called the Internetting Project. They wanted to link different networks together so that a host on one network could communicate with a host on a second, different network. There were many problems to overcome: diverse packet sizes, diverse interfaces, and diverse transmission rates, as well as differing reliability requirements. Cerf and Kahn devised the idea of a device called a gateway to serve as the intermediary hardware to transfer packets from one network to another.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internetworking Protocol (TCP/IP)

Cerf and Kahn’s landmark 1973 paper outlined the protocols to achieve end-to-end delivery of packets. This was a new version of NCP. This paper on transmission control protocol (TCP) included concepts such as encapsulation, the datagram, and the functions of a gateway. A radical idea was the transfer of responsibility for error correction from the IMP to the host machine. This ARPA Internet now became the focus of the communication effort. Around this time responsibility for the ARPANET was handed over to Defense Communication Agency (DCA).

In October 1977, an internet consisting of three different networks (ARPANET, packet radio, and packet satellite) was successfully demonstrated. Communication between networks was now possible.

Shortly thereafter, authorities made a decision to split TCP into two protocols: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internetworking Protocol (IP). IP would handle datagram routing while TCP would be responsible for higher level functions such as segmentation, reassembly, and error detection. The internetworking protocol became known as TCP/IP.

In 1981, under a DARPA contract, UC Berkeley modified the UNIX operating system to include TCP/IP. This inclusion of network software along with a popular operating system did much to further the popularity of networking. The open (non-manufacturer-specific) implementation on Berkeley UNIX gave every manufacturer a working code base on which they could build their products.

In 1983, authorities abolished the original ARPANET protocols, and TCP/IP became the official protocol for the ARPANET. Those who wanted to use the Internet to access a computer on a different network had to be running TCP/IP.

MILNET

In 1983, ARPANET split into two networks: MILNET for military users and ARPANET for nonmilitary users.

CSNET

Another milestone in Internet history was the creation of CSNET in 1981. CSNET was a network sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The network was conceived by universities that were ineligible to join ARPANET due to an absence of defense ties to DARPA. CSNET was a less expensive network; there were no redundant links and the transmission rate was lower. It featured connections to ARPANET and Telenet, the first commercial packet data service.

By the middle 1980s, most U.S. universities with computer science departments were part of CSNET. Other institutions and companies were also forming their own networks and using TCP/IP to interconnect. The term Internet, originally associated with government-funded connected networks, now referred to the connected networks using TCP/IP protocols.

NSFNET

With the success of CSNET, the NSF, in 1986, sponsored NSFNET, a backbone that connected five supercomputer centers located throughout the United States . Community networks were allowed access to this backbone, a T1 line with a 1.544 Mbps data rate, thus providing connectivity throughout the United States .

In 1990, ARPANET was officially retired and replaced by NSFNET. In 1995, NSFNET reverted back to its original concept of a research network.

ANSNET

In 1991, the U.S. government decided that NSFNET was not cable of supporting the rapidly increasing Internet traffic. Three companies, IBM, Merit, and MCI, filled the void by forming a nonprofit organization called Advanced Network and Services (ANS) to build a new, high-speed Internet backbone called ANSNET.

The Internet Today

The Internet today is not a simple hierarchical structure. It is made up of many wide and local area networks joined by connecting devices and switching stations. It is difficult to give an accurate representation of the Internet because it is continuously changing-new networks are being added, existing networks need more addresses, and networks of defunct companies need to be removed. Today most end users who want Internet connection use the services of Internet service providers (ISPs). There are international service providers, national service providers, regional service providers, and local service providers. The Internet today is run by private companies, not the government. Figure 1.1 shows a conceptual (not geographical) view of the Internet.

International Server Providers

At the top of the hierarchy are the international service providers that connect nations together.

National Service Providers (NSPs)

National service providers (NSPs) are backbone networks created and maintained by specialized companies. There are many NSPs operating in North America ; some of the most well-known are SprinkLink, PSINet, UUNet Technology, AGIS, and internet MCI. To provide connectivity between the end users, these backbone networks are connected by complex switching stations (normally run by a third party) called network access points (NAPs). Some NSP networks are also connected to each other by private switching stations called peering points. NSPs normally operate at a high data rate (up to 600Mbps).

Regional Internet Service Providers

Regional internet service providers or regional ISPs are small ISPs that are connected to one or more NSPs. They are at the third level of hierarchy with a lesser data rate.

Local Internet Service Providers

Local internet service providers provide direct service to the end users. The local ISPs can be connected to regional ISPs or directly to NSPs. Most end users are connected to the local ISPs. Note that in this sense, a local ISP can be a company that just provides Internet services, a corporation with a network to supply services to its own employees, or a nonprofit organization, such as a college or a university, that runs its own network. Each of these can be connected to a regional or national service provider.

Time Line

The following is a list of important Internet events in chronological order:

1969. Four-node ARPANET established.

1970. ARPA hosts implement NCP.

1973. Development of TCP/IP suite begins.

1977. An internet tested using TCP/IP.

1978. UNIX distributed to academic/research sites.

1981. CSNET established.

1983. TCP/IP becomes the official protocol for ARPANET.

1983. MILNET was born.

1986. NSFNET established.

1990. ARPANET decommissioned and replaced by NSFNET.

1995. NSFNET goes back to being a research network.

1995. Companies known as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) started.

Growth of the Internet

The Internet has grown tremendously. In just a few decades, the number of networks has increased from tens to hundreds of thousands. Concurrently, the number of computers connected to the networks has grown from hundreds to hundreds of millions. The Internet is still growing. Factors that have an impact on this growth include the following:

New Protocols. New protocols need to be added and obsolete ones need to be removed. For example, a protocol superior in many respects to IPv4 has been approved as a standard but not yet fully implemented (see IPv6, Chapter 31).

New Technology. New technologies are under development that will increase the capacity of networks and provide more bandwidth to the Internet’s users.

Increasing Use of Multimedia. It is predicted that the Internet, once just a vehicle to share data, will be used more and more for multimedia (audio and video).

1.2  PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS

In this section, we define two widely used terms: protocols and standards. First, we define protocol, which is synonymous with “rule”. Then we discuss standards, which are agreed-upon rules.

Protocols

In computer networks, communication occurs between entities in different systems. An entity is anything capable of sending or receiving information. However, two entities cannot simply send bit streams to each other and expect to be understood. For communication to occur, the entities must agree on a protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that governs data communication. A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is communicated. The key elements of a protocol are syntax, semantics, and timing.

Syntax. Syntax refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which they are presented. For example, a simple protocol might expect the first 8 bits of data to be the address of the sender, the second 8 bits to be the address of the receiver, and the rest of the stream to be the message itself.

Semantics. Semantics refers to the meaning of each section of bits. How is a particular pattern to be interpreted, and what action is to be taken based on that interpretation? For example, does an address identify the route to be taken or the final destination of the message?

Timing. Timing refers to two characteristics: when data should be sent and how fast it can be sent. For example, if a sender produces data at 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) but the receiver can process data at only 1 Mbps, the transmission will overload the receiver and data will be largely lost.

Standards

Standards are essential in creating and maintaining an open and competitive market for equipment manufacturers and also in guaranteeing national and international interoperability of data and telecommunications technology and processes. They provide guidelines to manufacturers, vendors, government agencies, and other service providers to ensure the kind of interoperability necessary in today’s marketplace and in international communications.

Data communication standards fall into two categories: de facto (meaning “by fact” or by convention) and de jure (meaning “by law” or “by regulation”).

De facto. Standards that have not been approved by an organized body but have been adopted as standards through widespread use are de facto standards. De facto standards are often established originally by manufacturers that seek to define the functionality of a new product or technology.

De jure. De jure standards are those that have been legislated by an officially recognized body.

1.3  STANDARDS ORGANIZATIONS

Standards are developed through cooperation of standards creation committees, forums, and government regulatory agencies.

Standards Creation Committees

While many organizations are dedicated to the establishment of standards, data telecommunications in North America rely primarily on those published by the following:

International Standards Organization (ISO). The International Standards Organization (ISO; also referred to as the International Organization for Standardization) is a multinational body whose membership is drawn mainly from the standards creation committees of various governments throughout the world. Created in 1947, the ISO is an entirely voluntary organization dedicated to worldwide agreement on international standards. With a membership that currently includes representative bodies from 82 industrialized nations, it aims to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services by providing models for compatibility, improved quality, increased productivity, and decreased prices. The ISO is active in developing cooperation in the realms of scientific, technological, and economic activity. Of primary concern to this book are the ISO’s efforts in the field of information technology, which have resulted in the creation of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model for network communications. The United States is represented in the ISO by ANSI.

International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Standards Sector (ITU-T). By the early 1970s, a number of countries were defining national standards for telecommunications, but there was still little international compatibility. The United Nations responded by forming, as part of its International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a committee, the Consultative Committee for International Telegraphy and Telephony (CCITT). This committee was devoted to the search and establishment of standards for telecommunications in general and phone and data systems in particular. On March 1, 1993, the name of this committee was changed to the International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Standards Sector (ITU-T).

American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Despite its name, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a completely private, nonprofit corporation not affiliated with the U.S. federal government. However, all ANSI activities are undertaken with the welfare of the United States and its citizens occupying primary importance. ANSI’s expressed aims include serving as the national coordinating institution for voluntary standardization in the United States , furthering the adoption of standards as a way of advancing the U.S. economy, and ensuring the participation and protection of the public interests. ANSI members include professional societies, industry associations, governmental and regulatory bodies, and consumer groups.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the largest professional engineering society in the world. International in scope, it aims to advance theory, creativity, and product quality in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, and radio as well as in all related branches of engineering. As one of its goals, the IEEE oversees the development and adoption of international standards for computing and communication.

Electronic Industries Association (EIA). Aligned with ANSI, the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of electronics manufacturing concerns. Its activities include public awareness education and lobbying efforts in addition to standards development. In the field of information technology, the EIA has made significant contributions by defining physical connection interfaces and electronic signaling specifications for data communication.

Forums

Telecommunications technology development is moving faster than the ability of standards committees to ratify standards. Standards committees are procedural bodies and by nature slow moving. To accommodate the need for working models and agreements and to facilitate the standardization process, many special-interest groups have developed forums made up of representatives from interested corporations. The forums work with universities and users to test, evaluate, and standardize new technologies. By concentrating their efforts on a particular technology, the forums are able to speed acceptance and use of those technologies in the telecommunications community. The forums present their conclusions to the standards bodies. Some important forums for the telecommunications industry include the following:

Frame Relay Forum. The Frame Relay Forum was formed by Digital Equipment Corporation, Northern Telecom, Cisco, and StrataCom to promote the acceptance and implementation of frame relay. Today, it has around 40 members representing North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim . Issues under review include flow control, encapsulation, translation, and multicasting. The forum’s results are submitted to the ISO.

ATM Forum. The ATM Forum promotes the acceptance and use of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology. The ATM Forum is made up of Customer Premises Equipment (e.g., PBX systems) vendors and Central Office (e.g., telephone exchange) providers. It is concerned with the standardization of services to ensure interoperability.

Regulatory Agencies

All communications technology is subject to regulation by government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission in the United States . The purpose of these agencies is to protect the public interest by regulating radio, television, and wire/cable communications.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authority over interstate and international commerce as it relates to communications.

The websites for the above organizations are given in Appendix G.

1.4  INTERNET STANDARDS

An Internet standard is a thoroughly tested specification that is useful to and adhered to by those who work with the Internet. It is a formalized regulation that must be followed. There is a strict procedure by which a specification attains Internet standard status. A specification begins as an Internet draft. An Internet draft is a working document (a work in progress) with no official status and a six-month lifetime. Upon recommendation from the Internet authorities, a draft may be published as a Request for Comment (RFC). Each RFC is edited, assigned a number, and made available to all interested parties.

RFCs go through maturity levels and are categorized according to their requirement level.

Maturity Levels

An RFC, during its lifetime, falls into one of six maturity levels: proposed standard, draft standard, Internet standard, historic, experimental, and informational (see Figure 1.2).

Proposed Standard

A proposed standard is a specification that is stable, well understood, and of sufficient interest to the Internet community. At this level, the specification is usually tested and implemented by several different groups.

Draft Standard

A proposed standard is elevated to draft standard status after at least two successful independent and interoperable implementations. Barring difficulties, a draft standard, with modifications if specific problems are encountered, normally becomes an Internet standard.

Internet Standard

A draft standard reaches Internet standard status after **s of successful implementation.

Historic

The historic RFCs are significant from a historical perspective. They either have been superseded by later specifications or have never passed the necessary maturity levels to become an Internet standard.

Experimental

An RFC classified as experimental describes work related to an experimental situation that does not affect the operation of the Internet. Such an RFC should not be implemented in any functional Internet service.

Informational

An RFC classified as informational contains general, historical, or tutorial information related to the Internet. It is usually written by someone in a non-Internet organization, such as a vendor.

Requirement Levels

RFCs are classified into five requirement levels: required, recommended, elective, limited use, and not recommended (see Figure 1.3).

Required

An RFC is labeled required if it must be implemented by all Internet systems to achieve minimum conformance. For example, IP (Chapter 8) and ICMP (Chapter 9) are required protocols.

Recommended

An RFC labeled recommended is not required for minimum conformance; it is recommended because of its usefulness. For example, FTP (Chapter 20) and TELNET (Chapter 19) are recommended protocols.

Elective

An RFC labeled elective is not required and not recommended. However, a system can use it for its own benefit.

Limited Use

An RFC labeled limited use should be used only in limited situations. Most of the experimental RFCs fall under this category.

Not Recommended

An RFC labeled not recommended is inappropriate for general use. Normally a historic (obsolete) RFC may fall under this category.

RFCs can be found at http://www.faqs.org/rfcs

1.5  INTERNET ADMINISTRATION

The Internet, with its roots primarily in the research domain, has evolved and gained a broader user base with significant commercial activity. Various groups that coordinate Internet issues have guided this growth and development. Appendix G gives the addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers for some of these groups. Figure 1.4 shows the general organization of Internet administration.

Internet Society (ISOC)

The Internet Society (ISOC) is an international, nonprofit organization formed in 1992 to provide support for the Internet standards process. ISOC accomplishes this through maintaining and supporting other Internet administrative bodies such as IAB, IETF, IRTF, and IANA (see the following sections). ISOC also promotes research and other scholarly activities relating to the Internet.

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is the technical advisor to the ISOC. The main purposes of the IAB are to oversee the continuing development of the TCP/IP Protocol Suite and to serve in a technical advisory capacity to research members of the Internet community. IAB accomplishes this through its two primary components, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). Another responsibility of the IAB is the editorial management of the RFCs, described earlier in this chapter. IAB is also the external liaison between the Internet and other standards organizations and forums.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a forum of working groups managed by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). IETF is responsible for identifying operational problems and proposing solutions to these problems. IETF also develops and reviews specifications intended as Internet standards. The working groups are collected into areas, and each area concentrates on a specific topic. Currently nine areas have been defined, although this is by no means a hard and fast number. The areas are:

Applications

Internet protocols

Routing

Operations

User services

Network management

Transport

Internet protocol next generation (IPng)

Security

Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)

The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is a forum of working groups managed by the Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG). IRTF focuses on long-term research topics related to Internet protocols, applications, architecture, and technology.

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), supported by the U.S. government, was responsible for the management of Internet domain names and addresses until Qctober 1998. At that time the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a private nonprofit corporation managed by an international board, assumed IANA operations.

Network Information Center (NIC)

The Network Information Center (NIC) is responsible for collecting and distributing information about TCP/IP protocols.

The website for Internet organizations can be found in Appendix G.

1.6  KEY TERMS

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

ANSNET

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)

ARPANET

ATM Forum

Consultative Committee for International Telegraphy and Telephony (CCITT)

CSNET

de facto standards

de jure standards

Electronic Industries Association (EIA)

entity

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Frame Relay Forum

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

International Standards Organization (ISO)

International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Standards Sector (ITU-T)

Internet

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

Internet draft

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Internet Society (ISOC)

Internet standard

local Internet service providers

maturity levels

MILNET

national service providers (NSPs)

network

Network Information Center (NIC)

network access points (NAPs)

NSFNET

protocol

regional ISPs

Request for Comment (RFC)

requirements levels

semantics

syntax

timing

Transmission Control Protocol/Internetworking Protocol (TCP/IP)

1.7  SUMMARY

The Internet is a collection of more than 100000 separate networks.

ARPANET began as a network with four nodes.

TCP/IP is the protocol suite for the Internet.

CSNET provided communication between networks ineligible to join ARPANET.

NSFNET provided communication between networks throughout the United States .

Local Internet service providers (ISPs) connect individual users to the Internet.

Regional Internet service providers connect local Internet service providers.

National service providers (NSPs) are backbone networks created and maintained by specialized companies.

A protocol is a set of rules that governs data communication; the key elements of a protocol are syntax, semantics, and timing.

Standards are necessary to ensure that products from different manufacturers can work together as expected.

The ISO, ITU-T, ANSI, IEEE, and EIA are some of the organizations involved in standards creation.

Forums are special-interest groups that quickly evaluate and standardize new technologies.

Two important forums are the Frame Relay Forum and the ATM Forum.

The FCC is a regulatory agency that regulates radio, television, and wire/cable communications.

A Request for Comment (RFC) is an idea or concept that is a precursor to an Internet Standard.

An RFC goes through the proposed standard level, then the draft standard level before it becomes an Internet standard.

An RFC is categorized as required, recommended, elective, limited use, or not recommended.

The Internet Society (ISOC) promotes research and other scholarly activities relating to the Internet.

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is the technical advisor to the ISOC.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a forum of working groups responsible for identifying operational problems and proposing solutions to these problems.

The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is a forum of working groups focusing on long-term research topics related to Internet protocols, applications, architecture, and technology.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), formerly known as IANA, is responsible for the management of Internet domain names and addresses.

The Network Information Center (NIC) is responsible for collecting and distributing information about TCP/IP protocols.