Internet Architecture Board ISO Future Networking Tech

The keepers of the internet standards are looking for the networking technologies of tomorrow.

And if your idea is particularly compelling, they may even build it for you.

But you must submit your proposal by Oct. 16, to have your ideas included in the Internet of Tomorrow.

The Internet of Tomorrow?

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB), a group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards body, has been tasked with determining the long-range future of the internet. These are the folks who manage the standards that ensure all the technologies work together on the internet today.

The IAB has set up The Next Era of Network Management Operations (NEMOPS) workshop, to compile a list of technologies that might be useful for an internet of the future.

They did this before, in 2002, and the process yielded a number of useful technologies, most notably:

• NETCONF (RFC 6241), the Network Configuration protocol, now widely-used to install, manipulate, and delete the configuration of network devices.
• YANG (RFC 7950), a data modeling language designed for NETCONF.
• RESTCONF (RFC 8040), a programmatic interface for YANG.
• CORECONF (Draft), a network interface for the Constrained Application Protocol, used to manage resource-constrained network resources (such as Internet of Things devices).

This group plans to review the success (or lack thereof) of the earlier work, then “sketch new requirements for future network management operations.”

Duty Now For the Future

“Network topologies have become significantly more complex since the 2002 IAB workshop, as have both router and host technologies,” the workshop’s home page reads. “Assuming this trend will continue, this workshop’s ambition is to lay a new directional foundation for the continued future of network management protocols.”

To do this, the organizers realize that they must gather “new input on what new issues network operators and network management implementers are facing.”

This is where you come in. The group wants to hear from network operators, protocol engineers, the system administrator, systems architects and other IT pros, to learn what tomorrow’s internet should be capable of, in terms of supporting all the new fancy internet-connected apps the world intends to build.

“Network topologies have become significantly more complex since the 2002 IAB workshop, as have both router and host technologies”

The group has already suspects that an IETF’s HoneyDo list might include standards for automation, orchestration, and autonomy. Maybe data consistency and business integration as well.

And dare we bring up the topic of security?

The group is asking for position papers, or “expression of interest” submissions that describe the missing gaps of technology. Authors of the best papers will be invited to join the workshop.

The due date is Oct. 16, so get cracking.

Lonely Hearts Club

The workshop itself will be held online on Dec. 3-5, 2024. Discussion topics include:

• What do implementations and deployments look like today?
• What issues did operators encounter during implementation?
• What IETF network management standards are operators deploying today?
• How are existing IETF network management standards insufficient for operators’ needs?
• What additional features or requirements do operators feel need to be standardized (possibly by the IETF)?
• What alternative (i.e., non-IETF) solutions are being deployed that better fit operators’ needs?

The IETF admits that industry players, perhaps spending time at more protocol-specific efforts, have drifted away from IETF since the 2002 workshop. This workshop hope to re-strengthen the bond between IETF and the IT industry.

Progress on the workshop can be tracked via the NEMOPS mailing list.