In
computer network engineering, an
Internet Standard (STD) is a normative
specification of a technology or methodology applicable to the
Internet. Internet Standards are created and published by the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
An Internet Standard is a special Request for Comments (RFC) or set of RFCs. An RFC that is to become a Standard or part of a Standard begins as an Internet Draft, and is later (usually after several revisions) accepted and published by the RFC Editor as a RFC and labeled a Proposed Standard. Later, an RFC is labelled a Draft Standard, and finally a Standard. Collectively, these stages are known as the standards track, and are defined in RFC 2026. The label Historic (sic) is applied to deprecated standards-track documents or obsolete RFCs that were published before the standards track was established.
Only the IETF, represented by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), can approve standards-track RFCs. The definitive list of Internet Standards is maintained in Internet Standards document STD 1 Internet Official Protocol Standards.[1]
Becoming a standard is a three step process within the IETF called Proposed Standards, Draft Standards and finally Internet Standards. If an RFC is part of a proposal that is on the standard track, then at the first stage, the standard is proposed and subsequently organizations decide whether to implement this Proposed Standard. After three separate implementations, more review and corrections are made to the RFC, and a Draft Standard is created. At the final stage, the RFC becomes a Standard.