RFC 2438 (rfc2438) - Page 1 of 7


Advancement of MIB specifications on the IETF Standards Track



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



Network Working Group                                          M. O'Dell
Request for Comments: 2438                            UUNET Technologies
BCP: 27                                                    H. Alvestrand
Category: Best Current Practice                                  Maxware
                                                               B. Wijnen
                                               IBM T. J. Watson Research
                                                              S. Bradner
                                                      Harvard University
                                                            October 1998


     Advancement of MIB specifications on the IETF Standards Track

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.

2. Abstract

   The Internet Standards Process [1] requires that all IETF Standards
   Track specifications must have "multiple, independent, and
   interoperable implementations" before they can be advanced beyond
   Proposed Standard status.  This document specifies the process which
   the IESG will use to determine if a MIB specification document meets
   these requirements.  It also discusses the rationale for this
   process.

3. The Nature of the Problem

   The Internet Standards Process [1] requires that for an IETF
   specification to advance beyond the Proposed Standard level, at least
   two genetically unrelated implementations must be shown to
   interoperate correctly with all features and options. There are two
   distinct reasons for this requirement.

   The first reason is to verify that the text of the specification is
   adequately clear and accurate.  This is demonstrated by showing that
   multiple implementation efforts have used the specification to
   achieved interoperable implementations.






O'Dell, et. al.          Best Current Practice