Internet DRAFT - draft-davis-dispatch-the-truths-of-it
draft-davis-dispatch-the-truths-of-it
dispatch K. Davis
Internet-Draft 1 April 2022
Updates: 1925 (if approved)
Intended status: Informational
Expires: 3 October 2022
The Truths of Information Technology
draft-davis-dispatch-the-truths-of-it-00
Abstract
The internet and information technology landscape has changed in many
ways since The Twelve Networking Truths was original published via
[RFC1925] over twenty six years ago. As a result this document
attempts to extend the truths of information technology into the
twenty-first century. This memo does not specify a standard, except
in the sense that all standards MUST implicitly follow the
fundamental truths.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
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Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
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material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on 3 October 2022.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2022 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components
extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. The Fundamental Truths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
4. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1. Introduction
This Request for Comments (RFC) provides information about the
fundamental truths underlying all information technology sectors.
These truths apply to all information technology sectors in general,
and are not limited to networking, TCP/IP, the Internet, or any other
subset of the networking community.
2. Terminology
2.1. Requirements Language
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
3. The Fundamental Truths
0.
With networking, much like programming, numbering SHOULD always
start with zero.
1.
It Has To Work.
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2.
No matter how hard you push and no matter what the priority,you
can't increase the speed of light. You can, however, slow it
down.
2a.
No matter how hard you try, you can't make a baby in much less
than 9 months. Trying to speed this up *might* make it slower,
but it won't make it happen any quicker.
3.
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not
necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are
going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as
they fly overhead.
4.
Some things in life can never be fully appreciated nor understood
unless experienced firsthand. Just as some things in networking
can never be fully understood by someone who neither builds
commercial networking equipment nor runs an operational network.
5.
It is always possible to agglutinate multiple separate problems
into a single complex interdependent solution. In most cases this
is a bad idea.
6.
It is easier to move a problem around (for example, by moving the
problem to a different part of the overall network architecture)
than it is to solve it.
6a.
It is always possible to add another level of indirection.
7.
It is always something.
7a.
Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick any two (you can't have all three).
8.
It is more complicated than you think.
9.
For all resources, whatever it is, you need more.
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9a.
Every information technology problem always takes longer to solve
than it seems like it should.
10.
One size never fits all.
11.
Every old idea will be proposed again with a different name and a
different presentation, regardless of whether it works. See 6a.
12.
In protocol design, perfection has been reached not when there is
nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
13.
The network is at fault until proven innocent. (Helpdesk, end
users, customers, developers perspective)
14.
The Firewall is at fault until proven innocent. (Network
Engineers perspective)
15.
Everything else is at fault. (Firewall Engineers perspective)
16.
Automation is encouraged and oftentimes recommended. (even at
times when it shouldn't be.)
17.
Never make a change unless you know the impact or ramifications of
said change.
18.
Never test in production.
19.
Layer 8 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is People.
(End Users, customers, developers and network engineers)
20.
Layer 9 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is
company/external regulations, rules, and restrictions
21.
Layer 10 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is money,
budget, and funds
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22.
Reserved for Catch-22s.
23.
If it can break, it will break, unexpectedly, on a weekend/
holiday.
24.
Fail-over and high availability are not suggestions. Remember to
test regularly!
25.
Change or version control are not a suggestion.
26.
You will get no praise when everything is working. Expect to only
be needed when things break
27.
Cloud simply means somebody else's data center/network.
28.
When things don't work, escalate harder.
29.
Never assume any software is free of bugs/defects.
30.
IPv6 should replace IPv4 any day now.
31.
Friday after 5pm local time until Sunday midnight local time are
perfect change window times.
32.
There can always be more people on the conference call.
33.
TIAAA (There Is Always Another Acronym)
34.
There is no such thing as a random issue. There MAY be variables
that make an issue intermittent but it is never truly random.
35.
Trust not the actions or analysis of anybody. "Trust but verify"
should be the approach to any situation.
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36.
The packets don't lie.
37.
Wireless might as well be magic.
38.
Nothing is ever truly 100% secure.
39.
Everybody's title is made up.
40.
One of the hardest parts of any IT professional's day is the
process of copying a file from a client to a server. See 14.
41.
Documentation, while REQUIRED, is never complete or up-to-date.
42.
A minimum of two data points should be collected in order to
properly point the finger.
43.
It is very likely somebody has always thought of it before you.
44.
Fear of the unknown oftentimes supersedes common sense.
45.
Your microphone behaves much like Schrodinger's cat. That is, it
is always in a state of being muted or unmuted until observed; at
which point it is usually in the wrong state.
46.
Sometimes a device needs a reload and there SHOULD be no further
justification beyond that fact required.
47.
The best engineers know how to properly discern the false debug
errors from the real debug errors.
48.
Bourbon or Scotch are the drinks of choice among IT professionals.
Others SHALL be allowed.
49.
The link you saved will change, break, or go away.
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50.
Somewhere, right now, a group of individuals are arguing about a
SHOULD vs a MUST.
51.
You never know when you will need that cable. Better hold onto
it.
52.
In IT the number of monitors directly correlates to efficiency.
53.
Your solution is likely way more complicated that required.
54.
Experimental
55.
Reserved for Future Use (but will likely never be used.)
4. IANA Considerations
IANA SHOULD consider these truths valid.
5. Security Considerations
This RFC raises no security issues. However, security protocols are
subject to the fundamental networking truths.
The informative references have been deleted in order to protect the
guilty and avoid enriching the lawyers.
The authors of this document are [RFC2323] compliant.
6. Acknowledgements
The truths described in this memo result from extensive study over an
extended period of time by many people, some of whom did not intend
to contribute to this work. The editor merely has collected these
truths, and would like to thank the information technology community
for originally illuminating these truths.
7. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
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[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.
[RFC1925] Callon, R., "The Twelve Networking Truths", RFC 1925,
DOI 110.17487/RFC1925, May 1996,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1925>.
[RFC2323] Leiba, B., "IETF Identification and Security Guidelines",
RFC 2323, DOI 10.17487/RFC2323, May 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2323>.
Author's Address
Kyzer R. Davis
Email: kydavis@cisco.com
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