ABSTRACT
Standards are the glue that enables hardware and software products to interoperate. Without standards it would be difficult, if not impossible, for different vendors to create products that could operate with products made by other organizations. For the TCP/IP protocol suite, standards are developed by several organizations that can be considered the governing bodies of the Internet. Thus, the first section of this chapter concentrates on this topic. Once this is accomplished, attention turns to the standardization process and the relationship of different governing bodies to the publication of documents that affect the use of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Because Internet standards are available online, this chapter also examines how one can access needed documents. In doing so, we discuss and examine several document searching techniques that can be used to satisfy information requirements in a timely manner.
