2.3 Standards Organizations

A standard is an agreement that is widely accepted and adopted.

The main importance of standardization:

		To ensure interoperability, enabling multiple vendors to supply different technologies that can be integrated into complete systems.
		By adopting standards, vendors increase their market sure as customers prefer technologies based on open standards.
		Accepted standards benefit customers reducing the technology risk as there are multiple vendors available to choose from. Customers can change vendor for better prices and features.

Networking standards play a crucial role in ensuring the broad use of networking technologies and benefiting both vendors and customers.

The OSI reference model and TCP/IP protocol suite are two examples of network standards.

2.3 Standards Organizations

It is to be noted that the formal acceptance of a standard does not guarantee its widespread use.

		An example of a standard that has not been widely used is the OSI reference model.
		Instead the TCP/IP protocol suite gained huge popularity and became the de facto standard of the Internet.

A neutral, non-profit organization is crucial in steering a successful standard.

Usually, a non-profit trade organization is established and joined by commercial companies to form a standard.

2.3 Standards Organizations

A number of organizations have been defining different networking standards including:

The International Organization of Standardization (ISO): is a leading standard-setting body which is concerned with defining standards for services and manufactured products.

In the area of network as described earlier, the ISO defined the OSI networking reference model.

Internet Standards Organizations: which include a number of organizations responsible for the development of the Internet's architecture, standards and policies.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the organization that focuses on TCP/IP development issues.

It is divided into a number of Working Groups which focus on developing standards in specific areas such as routing and security.

Other organizations include the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) and the Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG).

2.3 Standards Organizations

American National Standards Institute (ANSI): which is concerned with the development of trade and communication standards.

ANSI's major networking standards include: ANSI 802.1-1985 for Token Ring protocols, ANSI/IEEE 802.3 (CSMA/CD) for Ethernet networks and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) which is a fiber-optic transmission infrastructure specification.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): A society based in US which publishes various standards.

The IEEE society has the 802 committees which are responsible for establishing standards in many networking areas.

Such committees include: the 802.1 committee for internetworking, the 802.10 committee for network security, the 902.11 for wireless networks, etc.