12 posters · 1969 to 2011
Internet & networking
The Requests for Comments that built the Internet, from RFC 1 to IP and TCP, and the April Fools’ RFCs that made engineers laugh.
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Internet & networking
RFC 1: Host Software
Steve Crocker, 1969
The first Request for Comments: the planned host software of the ARPA Network and its first experiments.
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Internet & networking
RFC 791: Internet Protocol
Jon Postel, 1981
Section 3.1 of the Internet Protocol specification, which defines each field of the IPv4 header and its options.
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Internet & networking
RFC 793: Transmission Control Protocol
Jon Postel, 1981
Section 3.1 of the Transmission Control Protocol specification, which defines each field of the TCP header and its options.
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Internet & networking
RFC 968: ‘Twas the Night Before Start-up
Vint Cerf, 1985
Vint Cerf’s poem on debugging a new network the night before it is brought into operation.
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Internet & networking
RFC 1087: Ethics and the Internet
Internet Activities Board, 1989
A 1989 policy statement of the Internet Activities Board naming the uses of the Internet it considers unethical.
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Internet & networking
RFC 1149: A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers
David Waitzman, 1990
An April Fools’ RFC on sending IP datagrams printed on a paper scroll wrapped around the leg of a bird.
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Internet & networking
RFC 1925: The Twelve Networking Truths
Ross Callon, 1996
An April Fools’ RFC stating twelve fundamental truths of networking, several with corollaries.
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Internet & networking
RFC 2119: Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels
Scott Bradner, 1997
The Best Current Practice that defines MUST, SHOULD, MAY and related key words for requirement levels in specifications.
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Internet & networking
RFC 2324: Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0)
Larry Masinter, 1998
An April Fools’ RFC extending HTTP to control coffee pots; it defined the 418 I’m a teapot status code.
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Internet & networking
RFC 2549: IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service
David Waitzman, 1999
An April Fools’ RFC amending RFC 1149 with quality of service levels for IP datagrams carried by birds.
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Internet & networking
RFC 2795: The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)
S. Christey, 2000
An April Fools’ RFC specifying protocols for infinite monkeys at typewriters, their zoos, bards and critics.
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Internet & networking
RFC 6214: Adaptation of RFC 1149 for IPv6
Brian Carpenter, Robert M. Hinden, 2011
An April Fools’ RFC adapting the transmission of IP datagrams by avian carriers to IPv6.
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