IETFRFCs

IETFRFCs, commonly written as IETF RFCs, are a collection of documents produced by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that define protocols, procedures, and standards for the Internet. The RFC acronym stands for Request for Comments, though most current RFCs are formal specifications or guidelines rather than informal memos. Each RFC is assigned a unique number and appears in a public, freely accessible repository maintained by the RFC Editor. RFCs are published in several tracks, most notably Standards Track (with Proposed Standard, Draft Standard, and Internet Standard), Best Current Practice, Informational, Experimental, and Historic.

The publication process begins with working groups drafting specifications under IETF governance. After security and interoperability reviews by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) and external reviewers, the document is submitted to the RFC Editor for formatting and final publication. An RFC can update or obsolete earlier RFCs and may reference other RFCs. Once published, it becomes part of the permanent record and is intended to be freely accessible indefinitely.

Notable examples include RFC 791, defining IPv4; RFC 1034 and 1035, describing DNS concepts and lookup semantics; RFC 5321, describing SMTP; and RFC 7230, detailing HTTP/1.1. The RFC series remains the primary mechanism for documenting Internet standards and best practices, supporting interoperability and evolution of Internet technologies. New RFCs continue to be published on a regular basis, reflecting ongoing research, engineering, and consensus within the Internet community.