Table of Contents


Appendix D
Sources of Internet Information

Much of the adminstration functions for the Internet are handled by the InterNIC. Directory and Database services are handled by AT&T, while Registration Services are handled by Network Solutions, Inc. Addresses for these organizations are listed below.

Internet Directory and Database Services
AT&T
Tel: (908) 668-6587 or (800) 862-0677
Email: admin@ds.internic.net
URL: ftp://ds.internic.net
Registration Services
Network Solutions, Inc.
Attn.: InterNIC Registration Services
505 Huntmar Park Drive
Herndon, VA 22070
Tel: (703) 742-4777
Email: admin@rs.internic.net

Internet Organizations

A number of groups contribute to the management, operation and proliferation of the Internet. These include (in alphabetical order):

CommerceNet
URL: http://www.commerce.net
Email: info@commerce.net
Commercial Internet Exchange Association
Tel: (703) 824-9249
URL: http://www.cix.org
Email: helpdesk@cix.org
Internet Architecture Board
URL: http://www.iab.org
Email: iab-contact@isi.edu
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
URL: http://www.iana.org
Email: iana@isi.edu
Internet Engineering Task Force
URL: http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us
Email: ietf-web@ietf.org
Internet Society
URL: http://www.isoc.org
Email: isoc@isoc.org
World Wide Web Consortium
URL: http://www.w3.org
Email: admin@w3.org

Obtaining RFCs

The following is an excerpt from the file rfc-retrieval.txt, which is available from many of the RFC repositories listed below. This information is subject to change; obtain the current version of the rfc-retrieval file if problems occur. Also note that each RFC site may have instructions for file retrieval (such as a particular subdirectory) that are unique to that location.

RFCs may be obtained via e-mail or FTP from many RFC repositories. The Primary Repositories will have the RFC available when it is first announced, as will many Secondary Repositories. Some Secondary Repositories may take a few days to make available the most recent RFCs.

Many of these repositories now also have World Wide Web servers. Try the following URL as a starting point:

http://www.isi.edu/rfc-editor/

Primary Repositories

RFCs can be obtained via FTP from DS.INTERNIC.NET, NIS.NSF.NET, NISC.JVNC.NET, FTP.ISI.EDU, WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU, SRC.DOC.IC.AC.UK, FTP.NCREN.NET, FTP.SESQUI.NET, or NIS.GARR.IT.

1.  DS.INTERNIC.NET—InterNIC Directory and Database Services RFCs may be obtained from DS.INTERNIC.NET via FTP, WAIS, and electronic mail. Through FTP, RFCs are stored as rfc/rfcnnnn.txt or rfc/rfcnnnn.ps where “nnnn” is the RFC number. Log in as “anonymous” and provide your e-mail address as the password. Through WAIS, you may either use your local WAIS client or telnet to DS.INTERNIC.NET and log in as “wais” (no password required) to access a WAIS client. Help information and a tutorial for using WAIS are available online. The WAIS database to search is “rfcs.”
Directory and Database Services also provides a mail server interface. Send a mail message to mailserv@ds.internic.net and include any of the following commands in the message body:
document-by-name rfcnnnn     where “nnnn” is the RFC number.
                             The text version is sent.
file /ftp/rfc/rfcnnnn.yyy    where “nnnn” is the RFC  number and “yyy”
                              is “txt” or “ps.”
help                          to get information on how to use the
                              mailserver.

The InterNIC Directory and Database Services Collection of Resource Listings, Internet Documents such as RFCs, FYIs, STDs, and Internet Drafts, and Publicly Accessible Databases are also now available via Gopher. All our collections are waisindexed and can be searched from the Gopher menu.
To access the InterNIC Gopher Servers, please connect to “internic.net” port 70.
Contact: admin@ds.internic.net
2.  NIS.NSF.NET
To obtain RFCs from NIS.NSF.NET via FTP, log in with username “anonymous” and password “guest”; then connect to the di“rectory of RFCs with cd /internet/documents/rfc. The file name is of the form rfcnnnn.txt (where “nnnn” refers to the RFC number).
For sites without FTP capability, electronic mail query is available from NIS.NSF.NET. Address the request to NIS-INFO@NIS.NSF.NET and leave the subject field of the message blank. The first text line of the message must be “send rfcnnnn.txt” with nnnn the RFC number.
Contact: rfc-mgr@merit.edu
3.  NISC.JVNC.NET
RFCs can also be obtained via FTP from NISC.JVNC.NET, with the pathname rfc/rfcNNNN.txt (where “NNNN” refers to the number of the RFC). An index can be obtained with the pathname rfc/rfc-index.txt.
JvNCnet also provides a mail service for those sites which cannot use FTP. Address the request to “SENDRFC@NISC.JVNC.NET” and in the “Subject:” field of the message indicate the RFC number, as in “Subject: rfcNNNN” (where NNNN is the RFC number). Please note that RFCs whose numbers are less than 1000 need not place a leading “0”. (For example, RFC932 is fine.) For a complete index to the RFC library, enter “rfc-index” in the “Subject:” field, as in “Subject: rfc-index”. No text in the body of the message is needed.
Contact: rfc-admin@nisc.jvnc.net
4.  FTP.ISI.EDU
RFCs can be obtained via FTP from FTP.ISI.EDU, with the pathname in-notes/rfcnnnn.txt (where “nnnn” refers to the number of the RFC). Log in with FTP username “anonymous” and password “guest.”
RFCs can also be obtained via electronic mail from ISI.EDU by using the RFC-INFO service. Address the request to “rfc-info@isi.edu” with a message body of:
   Retrieve: RFC
         Doc-ID: RFCnnnn

(Where “nnnn” refers to the number of the RFC (always use 4 digits—the DOC-ID of RFC 822 is “RFC0822”)). The RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU server provides other ways of selecting RFCs based on keywords and such; for more information send a message to “rfc-info@isi.edu” with the message body “help: help”.
Contact: RFC-Manager@ISI.EDU
5.  WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU
RFCs can also be obtained via FTP from WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU, with the pathname info/rfc/rfcnnnn.txt.Z (where “nnnn” refers to the number of the RFC and “Z” indicates that the document is in compressed form).
At WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU the RFCs are in an “archive” file system and various archives can be mounted as part of an NFS file system. Please contact Chris Myers (chris@wugate.wustl.edu) if you want to mount this file system in your NFS.
Contact: chris@wugate.wustl.edu
6.  SRC.DOC.IC.AC.UK
RFCs can be obtained via FTP from SRC.DOC.IC.AC.UK with the pathname rfc/rfcnnnn.txt.Z or rfc/rfcnnnn.ps.Z (where “nnnn” refers to the number of the RFC). Log in with FTP username “anonymous” and password “your-email-address”. To obtain the RFC Index, use the pathname rfc/rfc-index.txt.gz. (The trailing .gz indicates that the document is in compressed form.)
SRC.DOC.IC.AC.UK also provides an automatic mail service for those sites in the UK which cannot use FTP. Address the request to info-server@doc.ic.ac.uk with a Subject: line of “wanted” and a message body of:
   request sources
   topic path rfc/rfcnnnn.txt.gz
   request end

(Where “nnnn” refers to the number of the RFC.) Multiple requests may be included in the same message by giving multiple “topic path” commands on separate lines. To request the RFC Index, the command should read: topic path rfc/rfc-index.txt.gz.
The archive is also available using NIFTP and the ISO FTAM system.
Contact: ukuug-soft@doc.ic.ac.uk
7.  FTP.NCREN.NET
To obtain RFCs from FTP.NCREN.NET via FTP, log in with username “anonymous” and your internet e-mail address as password. The RFCs can be found in the directory /rfc, with file names of the form rfcNNNN.txt or rfcNNNN.ps, where NNNN refers to the RFC number.
This repository is also accessible via WAIS and the Internet Gopher.
Contact: rfc-mgr@ncren.net
8.  FTP.SESQUI.NET
RFCs can be obtained via FTP from FTP.SESQUI.NET, with the pathname pub/rfc/rfcnnnn.xxx (where “nnnn” refers to the number of the RFC and “xxx” indicates the document form: txt for ASCII and ps for Postscript).
At FTP.SESQUI.NET the RFCs are in an “archive” file system and various archives can be mounted as part of an NFS file system. Please contact RFC-maintainer (rfc-maint@sesqui.net) if you want to mount this file system in your NFS.
Contact: rfc-maint@sesqui.net
9.  NIS.GARR.IT
RFCs can be obtained from NIS.GARR.IT FTP archive with the pathname mirrors/RFC/rfcnnnn.txt (where “nnnn” refers to the number of the RFC). Log in with FTP, username “anonymous” and password “guest”.
Summary of the ways to get an RFC from GARR-NIS FTP archive:
   Via ftp:        ftp.nis.garr.it directory mirrors/RFC

   Via gopher:     gopher.nis.garr.it folders
                   GARR-NIS anonymous FTP
                   “ftp.nis.garr.it”
                   mirrors
                   RFC

   Via WWW:        ftp://ftp.nis.garr.it/mirrors/RFC

   Via e-mail:     send a mail to dbserv@nis.garr.it whose body
                    contains “get mirrors/RFC/rfc<number>.[txt,ps].”

To get a file in the FTP archive via electronic mail, put the get <fullpathname> command either in the subject or as a mail body line of a mail message sent to dbserv@nis.garr.it. <fullpathname> must be the concatenation of two strings, the directory path and the filename.
Remember: use uppercase and lowercase exactly! The directory path is listed at the beginning of each block of files.
Example: to get RFC1004...the command should be:
   get mirrors/RFC/rfc1004.txt.

Secondary Repositories:

Sweden

Host: sunic.sunet.se
Directory: rfc
Host: chalmers.se
Directory: rfc

Germany

Site: EUnet Germany
Host: ftp.Germany.EU.net
Directory: pub/documents/rfc

France

Site: Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA)
Address: info-server@inria.fr
Notes: RFCs are available via email to the above address.Info Server manager is Mireille Yamajako (yamajako@inria.fr).
Site: Centre d’Informatique Scientifique et Medicale (CISM)
Contact: ftpmaint@univ-lyon1.fr
Host ftp.univ-lyon1.fr
Directories: pub/rfc/* Classified by hundreds pub/mirrors/rfc Mirror of Internic
Notes: Files compressed with gzip. Online decompression done by the FTP server.

Netherlands

Site: EUnet
Host: mcsun.eu.net
Directory: rfc
Notes: RFCs in compressed format.

Finland

Site: FUNET
Host: nic.funet.fi
Directory: index/RFC
Directory: /pub/doc/networking/documents/rfc
Notes: RFCs in compressed format. Also provides e-mail access by sending mail to archive-server@nic.funet.fi.

Norway

Host: ugle.unit.no
Directory: pub/rfc

Denmark

Site: University of Copenhagen
Host: ftp.denet.dk
Directory: rfc

Australia and Pacific Rim

Site: munnari
Contact: Robert Elz <kre@cs.mu.OZ.AU>
Host: munnari.oz.au
Directory: rfc
Notes: RFCs in compressed format rfcNNNN.Z postscript RFCs rfcNNNN.ps.Z
Site: The Programmers’ Society University of Technology, Sydney
Contact: ftp@progsoc.uts.edu.au
Host: ftp.progsoc.uts.edu.au
Directory: rfc (or std).
Both are stored uncompressed.

South Africa

Site: The Internet Solution
Contact: ftp-admin@is.co.za
Host: ftp.is.co.za
Directory: internet/in-notes/rfc

United States

Site: cerfnet
Contact: help@cerf.net
Host: nic.cerf.net
Directory: netinfo/rfc
Site: NASA NAIC
Contact: rfc-updates@naic.nasa.gov
Host: naic.nasa.gov
Directory: files/rfc
Site: NIC.DDN.MIL (DOD users only)
Contact: NIC@nic.ddn.mil
Host: NIC.DDN.MIL
Directory: rfc/rfcnnnn.txt
Note: Only DOD users may obtain RFCs via FTP from NIC.DDN.MIL. Internet users should NOT use this source due to inadequate connectivity.
Site: uunet
Contact: James Revell <revell@uunet.uu.net>
Host: ftp.uu.net
Directory: inet/rfc

The RFC-Info Service

The following describes the RFC-Info Service, which is an Internet document and information retrieval service. The text that follows describesthe service in detail; it was obtained by using “Help:Help” as discussed below.

RFC-Info is an e-mail based service to help in locating and retrieving RFCs, FYIs, STDs, and IMRs. Users can ask for “lists” of all RFCs, FYIs, STDs, and IMRs having certain attributes such as their ID number, keywords, title, author, issuing organization, and date.

To use the service send e-mail to RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU with your requests in the body of the message. Feel free to put anything in the SUBJECT; the system ignores it. The body of the message is processed with case independence.

To get started you may send a message to RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU with requests such as in the following examples (without the explanation between [ ]):

Help: Help [to get this information page]
List: FYI [list the FYI notes]
List: RFC [list RFCs with window as keyword or in title]
Keywords: window
List: FYI [list FYIs about windows]
Keywords: window
List: * [list all documents by Cooper]
Author: Cooper
List: RFC [list RFCs about ARPANET, ARPA NETWORK, etc.]
title: ARPA*NET
List: RFC [list RFCs issued by MITRE, dated 7+8/1991]
Organization: MITRE
Dated-after: Jul-01-1991
Dated-before: Aug-31-1991
List: RFC [list RFCs obsoleting a given RFC]
Obsoletes: RFC0010
List: RFC [list RFCs by authors starting with “Bracken”]
Author: Bracken* [* is a wild card matching all endings]
List: IMR [list the IMRs for the first 6 months of 92]
Dated-after: Dec-31-1991
Dated-before: Jul-01-1992
Retrieve: RFC [retrieve RFC 822]
Doc-ID: RFC0822 [note, always 4 digits in RFC#]
Retrieve: FYI [retrieve FYI 4]
Doc-ID: FYI0004 [note, always 4 digits in FYI#]
Retrieve: STD [retrieve STD 1]
Doc-ID: STD0001 [note, always 4 digits in STD#]
Retrieve: IMR [retrieve May 1992 Internet Monthly Report]
Doc-ID: IMR9205 [note, always 4 digits = YYMM]
Help: Manual [to retrieve the long user manual, 30+ pages]
Help: List [how to use the LIST request]
Help: Retrieve [how to use the RETRIEVE request]
Help: Topics [list topics for which help is available]
Help: Dates [“Dates” is such a topic]
List: keywords [list the keywords in use]
List: organizations [list the organizations known to the system]

A useful way to test this service is to retrieve the file “Where and how to get new RFCs” (which is also the file rfc-retrieval.txt noted above in the section Obtaining RFCs). Place the following in the message body:

   Help: ways_to_get_rfcs

Internet Mailing Lists

A number of mailing lists are maintained on the Internet for the purpose of soliciting information and discussions on specific subjects. In addition, a number of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) working groups maintain a list for the exchange of information that is specific to that group.

For example, the IETF maintains two lists: the IETF General Discussion list and the IETF Announcement list. To join the IETF Announcement list, send a request to:

   ietf-announce-request@ietf.org

To join the IETF General Discussion, send a request to:

   ietf-request@ietf.org

A number of other mailing lists are available. To join a mailing list, send a message to the associated request list:

   listname-request@listhost (for example, snmp-request@psi.com)

with the following as the message body:

   subscribe listname (for example, subscribe snmp)

A complete listing of the current IETF working groups and their respective mailing lists is available at:

http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/mailinglists.html

SNMP-related mailing lists of interest include:

  SNMP general discussion: snmp@psi.com
  SNMPv2 working group: snmpv2@tis.com
  SNMPv3 working group: snmpv3@tis.com
  RMON MIB working group: rmonmib@cisco.com

The Simple Times Newsletter

The Simple Times is a periodically published newsletter that details various topics relevant to SNMP. It is freely distributed via electronic form on the Internet. The Simple Times is available in three editions: HTML, ASCII, and PostScript. For further information, send a message to:

   st-subscriptions@simple-times.org

with a Subject: line of:

   help

Back issues are available from:

http://www.simple-times.org
ftp://ftp.simple-times.org


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