Applicability Statement for Reclassification of

RFC 1643 to Historic Status

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

This memo recommends that RFC 1643 be reclassified as an Historic document and provides the supporting motivation for that recommendation.

1. Details

STD 50, RFC 1643 [RFC1643], "Definitions of Managed Objects for the Ethernet-like Interface Types", and its SMIv2 equivalent, RFC 1650 [RFC1650], are applicable to half-duplex 10 Mb/s Ethernet interfaces only. Subsequent to the 1994 publication of these documents, 100 Mb/s, 1000 Mb/s, and 10 Gb/s Ethernet interface types have been developed, and full-duplex operation at 10 Mb/s has been standardized. Updates to RFC 1650 have been produced to accommodate these new technologies [RFC2358] [RFC2665] [RFC2666] [RFC3635]. These updates define new MIB objects to supplement those defined in RFC 1643 and RFC 1650 and in addition deprecate some of the objects in RFC 1643 and RFC 1650 that are no longer considered useful. They also levy a requirement for implementations of the EtherLike-MIB to support the MAU-MIB [RFC2239] [RFC2668] [RFC3636] as well.

RFC 1643 is an obsolete specification, overtaken by events. Its SMIv2 equivalent, RFC 1650, was officially retired in 1998. New implementations -- even those that support only half-duplex 10 Mb/s interfaces -- should comply with in the latest version of the specification, currently RFC 3635 [RFC3635] and RFC 2666 [RFC2666], instead of RFC 1643. It is therefore recommended that RFC 1643 be reclassified as an Historic document.

2. Effect on Other Standards Track Documents

Reclassification of RFC 1643 will have no impact on the status of any standards track RFC because no standards track RFC cites it as a normative reference. An RFC content search made with the tools available at http://www.rfc-editor.org reveals the following standards track documents that cite RFC 1643:

      Document               Title
      --------               -----
      
      RFC 2020         IEEE 802.12 Interface MIB
      
      RFC 2358         Definitions of Managed Objects for the
                       Ethernet-like Interface Types
      
      RFC 2665         Definitions of Managed Objects for the
                       Ethernet-like Interface Types
      
      RFC 2720         Traffic Flow Measurement: Meter MIB
      
      RFC 3635         Definitions of Managed Objects for the
                       Ethernet-like Interface Types

RFC 2020 [RFC2020] contains DOT12-IF-MIB, which is the MIB module for managing IEEE 802.12 100VG-AnyLAN interfaces. It refers to RFC 1643 in the context of an admonition not to implement the EtherLike-MIB for any interface where the DOT12-IF-MIB is implemented.

RFC 2358 [RFC2358], RFC 2665 [RFC2665], and RFC 3635 [RFC3635] all contain updated versions of the EtherLike-MIB. They refer to RFC 1643 in the context of explaining the history of the EtherLike-MIB, and the citation in RFC 3635 is explicitly listed as a non-normative reference.

RFC 2720 [RFC2720] contains the FLOW-METER-MIB. It refers to RFC 1643 only in an ASN.1 comment in the MIB module. Omission of that comment would not preclude correct implementation of the MIB module.

Clearly, none of these citations are normative.

3. Security Considerations

Reclassification of RFC 1643 will not, in and of itself, have any effect on the security of the Internet.

4. Normative References

   [RFC1643]   Kastenholz, F., "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
   
               Ethernet-like Interface Types", STD 50, RFC 1643, July
               1994.
   
   [RFC1650]   Kastenholz, F., "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
               Ethernet-like Interface Types using SMIv2", RFC 1650,
               August 1994.
   
   [RFC2020]   Flick, J., "IEEE 802.12 Interface MIB", RFC 2020, October
               1996.
   
   [RFC2239]   de Graaf, K., Romascanu, D., McMaster, D., McCloghrie, K.
               and S. Roberts, "Definitions of Managed Objects for IEEE
               802.3 Medium Attachment Units (MAUs) using SMIv2", RFC
               2239, November 1997.
   
   [RFC2358]   Flick, J. and J. Johnson, "Definitions of Managed Objects
               for the Ethernet-like Interface Types", RFC 2358, June
               1998.
   
   [RFC2665]   Flick, J. and J. Johnson, "Definitions of Managed Objects
               for the Ethernet-like Interface Types", RFC 2665, August
               1999.
   
   [RFC2666]   Flick, J., "Definitions of Object Identifiers for
               Identifying Ethernet Chip Sets", RFC 2666, August 1999.
   
   [RFC2668]   Smith, A., Flick, J., deGraaf, K., Romascanu, D.,
               McMaster, D., McCloghrie, K. and S. Roberts, "Definitions
               of Managed Objects for IEEE 802.3 Medium Attachment Units
               (MAUs)", RFC 2668, August 1999.
   
   [RFC2720]   Brownlee, N., "Traffic Flow Measurement: Meter MIB", RFC
               2720, October 1999.
   
   [RFC3635]   Flick, J., "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
               Ethernet-like Interface Types", RFC 3635, September 2003.
   
   [RFC3636]   Flick, J., "Definitions of Managed Objects for IEEE 802.3
               Medium Attachment Units (MAUs)", RFC 3636, September
               2003.

5. Authors' Addresses

John Flick
Hewlett-Packard Company
8000 Foothills Blvd. M/S 5557
Roseville, CA 95747-5557
USA

   Phone: +1 916 785 4018
   Fax:   +1 916 785 1199
   EMail: johnf@rose.hp.com

C. M. Heard
600 Rainbow Dr. #141
Mountain View, CA 94041-2542
USA

   Phone: +1 650 964 8391
   EMail: heard@pobox.com

6. Full Copyright Statement

Copyright © The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.

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Acknowledgement

Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society.