Revised GISD FAQ

     GISD Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (FAQ)


Tony Bates
Jean Ritchie
David Sitman

Questions with answers:

1)   What does GISD stand for ?
2)   What is GISD ?
3)   Who is GISD aimed at ?
4)   What is the purpose of GISD ?
5)   How is GISD Structured ?
6)   So what does the GISD structure look like ?
7)   What does GISD not cover ?
8)   What areas does GISD cover ?
9)   Who can contribute to GISD ?
10)  How can I help with GISD ?
11)  Why does GISD have an IETF working group ?
12)  What is the goal of the IETF GISD working group ?
13)  What is the current status of the GISD document ?
14)  Does GISD have a mailing list ?
15)  Is the list archived ?
16)  Where did the idea for GISD come from ?

---

1)   What does GISD stand for ?

GISD stands for "Generic Internet Service Description".

2)   What is GISD ?

GISD is a collection of short descriptions of different aspects of
Internet Service provision.  GISD is intended to provide an overall
picture of what is involved in providing an Internet service, and it
describes the ways that various issues are currently being addressed by
today's Internet service providers.  GISD is intended to be a living
document, with many contributors adding new material as necessary.  The
Internet is undergoing rapid changes at present and the contents of GISD
need to be updated regularly if it is to remain useful.  Current levels
of change in technology and organisation of the Internet are such that
an update every six months would be desirable.

3) Who is GISD aimed at ?

GISD is aimed at service providers whose customers include organisations
needing to use the global Internet.  GISD concentrates on service at the
IP layer rather than at the application layer.  It describes services
run on top of the IP layer only if these are used to manage the
Internet service itself, e.g., using SNMP for monitoring or e-mail to
report problems.

4)   What is the purpose of GISD ?

GISD is intended to be a descriptive document, so it does not include
recommendations for any particular levels or methods of service
provision.

5) How is GISD Structured ?

GISD provides a framework of six areas within which to describe an
Internet service.  Within each area a list of service aspects is
described under the following set of headings:

'What' explains what the aspect is.

'Why' describes how this aspect is relevant to an Internet Service.

'Options' describes one or more commonly used choices available when
providing this aspect of service.  If many options exist they will be
categorised as minimal, common or maximal solutions wherever possible.
If the choice of an option may depend on other issues such as geographic
location this is indicated.

'See Also' includes additional relevant documentation.

'Soap Box' is an optional section of controversial items.

'References' provides pointers to relevant documents.

'Contributors' lists the contributors to each section.

6) So what does the GISD structure look like ?

The structure of GISD is:


GISD
        Area
                Aspect
                        What
                        Why
                        Options
                                (Minimal)
                                (Common)
                                (Maximal)
                                (Regional)
                        See Also
                        Soap Box
                        References
                        Contributors
                ...
        ...


7)   What does GISD not cover ?

GISD does not cover any details of cost.  It does not provide a list of
Internet service providers (this is available elsewhere).  It does not
give any guidance about choosing a service provider.

8)   What are the areas of GISD ?

There are currently six areas in GISD:

    1)   Access.

    2)   Generic Services.

    3)   Connectivity.

    4)   Operations.

    5)   Information Provision and Coordination.

    6)   Security.

Consult the GISD draft for more details of the areas.

9)   Who can contribute to GISD ?

Anyone.  In fact, the goal is to make it easy for members of the
community to contribute their knowledge and experience, while receiving
proper credit.  The more people who contribute to GISD the better the
description will become.  Some editorial control is exercised to keep
GISD manageable.  Editorial control currently lies with the chair of
the GISD IETF working group.

10)  How can I help with GISD ?

The first draft still contains many aspects which so far do not have any
text.  Pick an aspect, send a message to the list telling the authors you
plan to submit an aspect, and let's get it written!

11)  Why does GISD have an IETF working group ?

The Internet Engineering Task force is a good place to interact with
many of today's service providers.  The scope, structure, initial areas
and aspects of the GISD were mapped out at two previous BOFs during
IETF meetings.

12)  What is the goal of the IETF GISD working group ?

To produce a completed GISD document.  The charter for the group can be
found at:

   ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ietf/gisd/gisd-charter.txt

13)  What is the current status of the GISD document ?

The GISD is far from complete; many aspects still need contributors.
However, the current version of the document can be found at:

   ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/drafts/gisd.txt    and
   ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/drafts/gisd.ps

14)  Does GISD have a mailing list ?

Yes.  You can subscribe to the list by sending an email message to:

majordomo@localhost

with the following in the body of the message:

subscribe gisd-wg

15)  Is the list archived ?

Yes.  The archive can be retrieved via e-mail to:

majordomo@localhost

with the following in the body of the message:

index gisd-wg

16)  Where did the idea for GISD come from ?

GISD resulted from a joint RARE/RIPE project known as GISS, which was
funded by SURFnet.  The project report can be obtained from:

ftp.ripe.net:ripe/docs/ripe-docs/ripe-094.ps
















































                      October 26, 1993