Standards are published documents that establish specifications and procedures designed to ensure the

reliability of the materials, products, methods, and/or services people use every day. Standards address
a range of issues, including but not limited to various protocols that help ensure product functionality
and compatibility, facilitate interoperability and support consumer safety and public health.

The Importance of Standards

Standards are necessary in almost every business and public service entity. For example, before 1904,
fire hose couplings in the United States were not standard, which meant a fire department in one
community could not help in another community. The transmission of electric current was not
standardized until the end of the nineteenth century, so customers had to choose between Thomas
Edison’s direct current (DC) and George Westinghouse’s alternating current (AC).

The primary reason for standards is to ensure that hardware and software produced by different
vendors can work together. Without networking standards, it would be difficult—if not impossible—to
develop networks that easily share information. Standards also mean that customers are not locked into
one vendor. They can buy hardware and software from any vendor whose equipment meets the
standard. In this way, standards help to promote more competition and hold down prices. The use of
standards makes it much easier to develop software and hardware that link different networks because
software and hardware can be developed one layer at a time.

Standardization is the process of developing, promoting and possibly mandating standards-based and
compatible technologies and processes within a given industry.

Standards for technologies can mandate the quality and consistency of technologies and ensure their
compatibility, interoperability and safety. Standards organizations such as ANSI(American National
Standards Institute), IEEE(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and IETF (Internet Engineering
Task Force) exist to promote standardization and endorse official standards (also known as de
jure standards) for given applications.

A lack of standardization often manifests in large numbers of incompatible proprietary formats for a
given technology and for technologies that must interoperate. That all-too-common situation hinders the
adoption and advancement of the technology and industry.

The burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) is a current case in point. The main purpose of the IoT is enabling
almost any object imaginable to be connected and to transmit data over the Internet. Although that
scenario is increasingly becoming realized, incompatible formats and market fragmentation are slowing
adoption.
Standard Organizations

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

IEEE stands for the "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers". The association is chartered under
this full legal name. IEEE's membership has long been composed of engineers and scientists. Allied
professionals who are members include computer scientists, software developers, information
technology professionals, physicists, and medical doctors, in addition to IEEE's electrical and electronics
engineering core. For this reason the organization no longer goes by the full name, except on legal
business documents, and is referred to simply as IEEE. The IEEE is dedicated to advancing technological
innovation and excellence. It has about 430,000 members in about 160 countries, slightly less than half
of whom reside in the United States.
ANSI (American National Standards Institute)

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) serves as administrator and coordinator of the United
States private-sector voluntary standardization system. ANSI was founded in 1918 by five engineering
societies and three governmental agencies, and is a private, nonprofit membership organization. ANSI
ensures each foot-long ruler is accurate in its dimensions, for instance, essentially using a ruler to
measure a ruler. ANSI ensures that each inch on the ruler is in fact 1 inch, and that the foot-long ruler is
in fact made up of 12 of these inches.

ANSI, like the ITU, regulates telecommunications standards; unlike the ITU, however, ANSI regulates
standards in North America, whereas the ITU regulates standards in Europe. For example, ANSI regulates
the T1 telecommunications standard, whereas the ITU regulates the E1telecommunications standard in
Europe.

Electronic Industries Alliance

Abbreviated EIA, a trade association representing the U.S. high technology community. It began in 1924
as the Radio Manufacturers Association. The EIA sponsors a number of activities on behalf of its
members, including conferences and trade shows. In addition, it has been responsible for developing
some important standards, such as the RS-232, RS-422 and RS-423 standards for connecting serial
devices.

Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) mean?

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is a trade association which is accredited by the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in order to develop industry standards for information and
communication technologies (ICT) products such as cellular towers, data terminals, VoIP devices,
satellites, telephone terminal equipment and many more.TIA has members from all over the industry
and currently represents nearly 400 different companies.TIA represents global information and
communications technology industries through developing standards, government affairs, market
intelligence, business opportunities, world-wide regulatory compliance as well as certification.
TIA aims to enhance the business environment for the organizations involved in broadband,
telecommunications, information technology, mobile wireless technology, cabling and satellite,
networking, unified and emergency communications, and further "greenifying" of technology.
It has more than 600 active member participants from service providers, equipment manufacturers,
academic institutions, government agencies and end-users which are divided among the twelve
engineering committees of TIA’s Standards and Technology Department.

Engineering Committees:

 Mobile and Personal Private Radio Standards

 Point-to-Point Communications Systems
 Multimedia Access, Protocols and Interfaces
 Satellite Equipment and Systems
 User Premises Telecommunications Requirements
 Telecommunications Cabling Systems
 Mobile and Personal Communications Systems Standards
 Terrestrial Mobile Multimedia Multicast
 Vehicular Telematics
 Healthcare ICT
 M2M-Smart Device Communications
 Smart Utility Networks
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, is an independent, non- governmental

organization, the members of which are the standards organizations of the 162 member countries. It is
the world's largest developer of voluntary international standards and facilitates world trade by
providing common standards between nations. Nearly twenty thousand standards have been set
covering everything from manufactured products and technology to food safety, agriculture and
healthcare.

Abbreviation IETF[2]
 Formation January 16, 1986; 32 years ago

Type Standards organization

Purpose Creating voluntary standards to maintain

and improve
theusability and interoperability of
the Internet.

Location  Fremont, California, U.S.

Region served Worldwide

IETF Chair Alissa Cooper[3]

Parent Internet Society

organization

Website ietf.org

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) develops and promotes voluntary Internet standards, in
particular the standards that comprise the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It is an open standards
organization, with no formal membership or membership requirements. All participants and managers
are volunteers, though their work is usually funded by their employers or sponsors.

The IETF started out as an activity supported by the U.S. federal government, but since 1993 it has
operated as a standards development function under the auspices of the Internet Society, an
international membership-based non-profit organization.

Major Groups of IETC

The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide
leadership in Internet-related standards, education, access, and policy. Its mission is "to promote the
open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the
world".

The Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) is a body composed of the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF) chair and area directors. It provides the final technical review of Internet standards and is
responsible for day-to-day management of the IETF. It receives appeals of the decisions of the working
groups, and the IESG makes the decision to progress documents in the standards track.

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is "a committee of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and
an advisory body of the Internet Society (ISOC). Its responsibilities include architectural oversight of IETF
activities, Internet Standards Process oversight and appeal, and the appointment of the Request for
Comments (RFC) Editor. The IAB is also responsible for the management of the IETF protocol parameter
registries."

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a function of ICANN, a nonprofit

private American corporation that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number
allocation, root zone management in theDomain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Internet
Protocol-related symbols and Internet numbers

Network Classifications

Personal Area Network (PAN): A network of computers used to communicate different

devices(computers, internet access points, cell phones, PDAs, audio devices, printers, etc..) Near the
access point.The scope of a PAN is typically a fewmeters and is for personal use. PANnetworks can be
connected with wires to the computer bus (USB andFireWire). WPAN (Wireless Personal
Area Network) can also be madepossible with network technologiessuch as IrDA and Bluetooth.

Local area network (LAN) communications networkused to interconnect multiple computers and other
devices. Its distribution is limited to a building or a range of 200 meters without using a repeater. Are
mostly used to connect personal computers andworkstations in the home, offices, factories, etc.. This
means that users can share resources or devices that are connected to other equipment such as printers,
faxes, file sharing, etc...

Campus Area Network (CAN): CAN is a collection of geographically dispersed LANs within
a campus(university, government offices, factories, etc..)belonging to the same entity in a limited area in
kilometers. CAN A commonly used technologies such as FDDI, wireless, Gigabit Ethernet, and so on.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): A MAN is a collection of LANs or CANs dispersed in a city NACs
(tens of kilometers). A MAN used technologies such as ATM, Frame Relay, xDSL (Digital Subscriber
Line), WDM (Wavelength Division Modulation), ISDN, E1/T1, PPP, etc. for connectivity through media
such as copper, fiber optic, and microwave.

Wide Area Network (WAN): WAN is a collection of geographically dispersed LANs to hundreds
of kilometers apart. A network device called a router is able to connect LANs to a
WAN.Technologies commonly used ATM(Asynchronous Transfer Mode), FrameRelay, X.25, T1/E1,
GSM, TDMA, CDMA, xDSL, PPP, etc. for connectivity through media such as fiber optics, microwave,
cellular, satellite, etc..

Storage Area Network (SAN): A network designed to connect servers, arrays (arrays) discs
and supporting libraries. It is mainly based on iSCSIor fiber technology. Its function is to
connect quickly, securely and reliably various storage elements that comprise it.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection over a
less secure network, such as the internet. VPN technology was developed as a way to allow remote
users and branch offices to securely access corporate applications and other resources.

Types of VPN
1. Remote Access VPN

Remote access VPN allows a user to connect to a private network and access its services and resources
remotely. The connection between the user and the private network happens through the Internet
and the connection is secure and private.

2. Site – to – Site VPN

A Site-to-Site VPN is also called as Router-to-Router VPN and is mostly used in the corporates.
Companies, with offices in different geographical locations, use Site-to-site VPN to connect the
network of one office location to the network at another office location.

What is Network Architecture?

It's basically the physical and logical design which refers to the software, hardware, protocols and the
media of transmission of data. Simply put, it refers to how computers are organized and how tasks are
allocated among these computers. The two types of widely used network architectures are peer-to-
peer aka P2Pand client/server aka tiered.

Peer-to-Peer Architecture

In a peer-to-peer network, tasks are allocated to every device on the network. Furthermore, there is no
real hierarchy in this network, all computers are considered equal and all have the same abilities to use
the resources available on this network. Instead of having a central server which would act as the shared
drive, each computer thats connected to this network would act as the server for the files stored on

Client/Server Architecture

In a client/server network, a centralized, really powerful computer(server) acts as a hub in which other
computers or workstations(clients) can connect to. This server is the heart of the system, which manages
and provides resources to any client that requests them.

A point-to-point connection refers to a communications connection between two Communication

endpoints or nodes. An example is atelephone call, in which one telephone is connected with one other,
and what is said by one caller can only be heard by the other. This is contrasted with a point-to-
multipoint or broadcast connection, in which many nodes can receive information transmitted by one
node. Other examples of point-to-point communications links are leased lines, microwave radio
relay and two-way radio.

A multipoint connection is a communication channel between two or more clients of the network,
where all data sent by one client is received by all other clients. A point-to-point connection is a special
case of a multipoint connection involving only two clients.

The Open System Interconnection (OSI) model defines a networking framework to implement protocols
in seven layers. Use this handy guide to compare the different layers of the OSI model and understand
how they interact with each other.
Application (Layer 7)

OSI Model, Layer 7, supports application and end-user processes. Communication partners are
identified, quality of service is identified, user authentication and privacy are considered, and any
constraints on datasyntax are identified. Everything at this layer is application-specific. This layer
provides application services for file transfers, e-mail, and
other network software services. Telnet and FTP are applications that exist entirely in the application
level. Tiered application architectures are part of this layer.

Layer 7 Application examples include WWW browsers, NFS, SNMP, Telnet, HTTP, FTP

Presentation (Layer 6)

This layer provides independence from differences in data representation (e.g., encryption) by
translating from application to network format, and vice versa. The presentation layer works to
transform data into the form that the application layer can accept. This layer formats and encrypts data
to be sent across a network, providing freedom from compatibility problems. It is sometimes called the
syntax layer.

Layer 6 Presentation examples include encryption, ASCII, EBCDIC, TIFF, GIF, PICT, JPEG, MPEG, MIDI.
Session (Layer 5)

This layer establishes, manages and terminates connections between applications. The session layer sets
up, coordinates, and terminates conversations, exchanges, and dialogues between the applications at
each end. It deals with session and connection coordination.

Layer 5 Session examples include NFS, NetBios names, RPC, SQL.

Transport (Layer 4)

OSI Model, Layer 4, provides transparent transfer of data between end systems, or hosts, and is
responsible for end-to-end error recovery and flow control. It ensures complete data transfer.

Layer 4 Transport examples include SPX, TCP, UDP.

Network (Layer 3)

Layer 3 provides switching and routing technologies, creating logical paths, known as virtual circuits, for
transmitting data from node to node. Routing and forwarding are functions of this layer, as well
as addressing,internetworking, error handling, congestion control and packet sequencing.

Layer 3 Network examples include AppleTalk DDP, IP, IPX.

Data Link (Layer 2)

At OSI Model, Layer 2, data packets are encoded and decoded into bits. It furnishes transmission
protocolknowledge and management and handles errors in the physical layer, flow control and frame
synchronization. The data link layer is divided into two sub layers: The Media Access Control (MAC) layer
and the Logical Link Control (LLC) layer. The MAC sub layer controls how a computer on the network
gains access to the data and permission to transmit it. The LLC layer controls frame synchronization, flow
control and error checking.

Layer 2 Data Link examples include PPP, FDDI, ATM, IEEE 802.5/ 802.2, IEEE 802.3/802.2, HDLC, Frame

Relay.

Physical (Layer 1)

OSI Model, Layer 1 conveys the bit stream - electrical impulse, light or radio signal — through
the network at the electrical and mechanical level. It provides the hardware means of sending and
receiving data on a carrier, including defining cables, cards and physical aspects. Fast Ethernet, RS232,
and ATM are protocols with physical layer components.