IBM Corporation

3039 Cornwallis Ave. PO Box 12195 - BRQA/502 Research Triangle Park NC 27709-2195 919-254-7798 narten@raleigh.ibm.com

Maxware

Pirsenteret N-7005 Trondheim Norway +47 73 54 57 97 Harald@Alvestrand.no

General Internet Assigned Numbers Authority IANA Many protocols make use of identifiers consisting of constants and other well-known values. Even after a protocol has been defined and deployment has begun, new values may need to be assigned (e.g., for a new option type in DHCP, or a new encryption or authentication algorithm for IPSec). To insure that such quantities have consistent values and interpretations in different implementations, their assignment must be administered by a central authority. For IETF protocols, that role is provided by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). In order for the IANA to manage a given name space prudently, it needs guidelines describing the conditions under which new values can be assigned. If the IANA is expected to play a role in the management of a name space, the IANA must be given clear and concise instructions describing that role. This document discusses issues that should be considered in formulating a policy for assigning values to a name space and provides guidelines to document authors on the specific text that must be included in documents that place demands on the IANA.