I am sure most of you would have heard by now that IIESoc have been working behind the scenes for "Connections 2018" - a Pre-IETF 103 forum in bangalore on October 31st - Novemeber 1st 2018, to get protocol developers, academicians and network operators together on the same platform to discuss the latest problems facing the internet and the solutions relevant to them. This is being done with a focus on India and Indian contributions to the Internet.
This blog is part of the speaker series that introduces the various amazing speakers that are part of the event. Next in the series is Lee Howard.
Bio: Lee Howard led one of the world’s largest IPv6 deployments, and has provided guidance to dozens of organizations on when to buy addresses, use transition technologies, and when to sell addresses.He co-chaired the IETF’s IPv6 Operations Working Group (v6ops) and the IPv6 Renumbering Working Group (6renum WG), and was a major contributor to the IPv4 Sunsetting Working Group (sunset4).He has served on the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), the Board of Trustees of ARIN (the American Registry of Internet Numbers), and the NRO-NC (the Number Resource Organization Numbers Council).
Talk in IPv6 Track: IPv6 and Security in the Cloud
A survey of major cloud providers' IPv6 capabilities, and a deeper dive into their security mechanisms and their use in an IPv6 environment.
Talk in Deployments Track on Enterprise: Enterprise experiences with IPv6
Report of enterprise experiences with IPv6 deployment, including drivers, some of the common issues found, recommended strategies, and gaps in existing technologies.
Checkout other talks at - https://www.connections.iiesoc.in/abstract
We also asked Lee a few questions regarding his IETF contributions and involvement.
1. How did you get involved in the IETF? Was there a particular issue that led to your involvement? I had been active in ARIN for some years. I was hired by a large ISP to look into evolving technologies, to make sure they were usable by the time they were implemented, and that meant participation in the IETF, among other places.
2. What is your opinion on the importance of the IETF in the Internet eco-system?
The IETF is the focal point for Internet standards development, especially for infrastructure. While other bodies exist for standardizing electronics, radio frequency use, or how web pages are encoded, fundamentals like IP, DNS, and HTTPS are developed at the IETF, and there's more work on those and related protocols than most people might think.
3. What technical changes do you see coming in the next few years?
IPv6 is already over 50% of Facebook's traffic in India, and rising rapidly.
QUIC may change how network operators manage some of their traffic, and it will be interesting to see how DOH (DNS over HTTPS) works out. In addition, there's a lot of interest in network automation and abstraction, using tools to describe policy and intent and have networks deploy themselves.
4. What are some of the most interesting changes you have seen at the IETF?
The role of network operators changes year over year, and from Area to Area. I wish more operators could participate, because vendors and academics often have little understanding of how technologies are deployed and managed, or even of how decisions are made.
The IETF itself is undergoing some governance changes, trying to make sure it is independent of any one organization. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.
5. What would be your advice for a new-comer from the sub-continent, on how to get involved?
The nice thing about the IETF is that there is no gatekeeper to participation: you just subscribe to a mailing list, and send email. The hard thing is deciding which mailing list(s) to subscribe to!
The easiest way to get started is to hear about a document (internet-draft) being discussed and subscribe to the mailing list where it's being discussed. The second easiest is to browse the list of working groups at https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/ and subscribe to whatever sounds interesting. Of course, you're not a participant until you say something!
My strongest advice is to read an internet-draft that is being actively discussed on a mailing list, and to respond with questions about specific sentences or sections of the document. Well-informed comments are also received well. A newcomer who understands how existing technology works, asks good questions or brings up points that have been missed, and wants to improve a document that is actively being worked, is quickly welcomed into the IETF.
The next step would be to attend a meeting remotely. Sometimes time zone differences make that difficult, but you don't have to attend an entire week of meetings; show up for one or two interesting WG meetings.
I am always impressed at the generosity of long-term IETF participants, when asked for help writing a draft or understanding process or technology.
The IETF is a terrible place to learn about protocols, but a great place to help make them better.
Dont miss this oppurtunity to join us for the event. The tickets for the event are availaible at - https://www.connections.iiesoc.in/tickets