1. The Need for Standards

The standards used in the computer industry by the various international bodies were concerned primarily with either the internal operation of a computer or the connection local peripheral device. The result was that early hardware and software communications subsystems offered by manufacturers enabled only their own ruters to exchange information and so were called plug-compatible systems. Such ms are termed closed systems, since computers from other manufacturers cannot range information unless they adhere to the (proprietary) standards of a particular manufacturer. Computers have different architectures, understand different iages, store data in different formats, and communicate at different rates; frequently there is much incompatibility, and communication is difficult.
This incompatibility raises a basic question: how can computers communicate at they communicate the same way trade representatives from different countries do. person speaks a different language, so they need translators. Furthermore, they to observe a protocol that defines the rules and the manner in which they begin proceed with discussions. Similarly, if computers are to communicate, they need protocols to determine which one `speaks' and translators to account for different pages.
There are two types of standards. De facto standards are those that exist by e of their widespread use. That is, they have become so common that vendors r that producing products consistent with them will have a large market. Many products have become de facto standards. The second type of standard is one that normally recognized and adopted by an agency that has achieved national or worldwide recognition, called de sure standards.
Several national and international agencies play a strong role in establishing network standards that ensure a common ground for communications and network )ment.

Key among these agencies are:
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
• International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) • International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) • International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• Internet Society (ISOC) and the associated Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
• Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) and the associated Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).

2 American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
I is a private, non-governmental agency where members are manufacturers, users other interested companies. It has nearly 1000 members and is itself a member the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ANSI has set up the lards for Fibre Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and for local area networks ; optical fiber. ANSI has also set up the American Standard Code for Information -changed (ASCII), used by many computers for storing information.

3 International Electro-technical Commission (IEC)
IEC is a non-governmental agency devising standards for data processing and interconnections and safety in office equipment. It was involved in the development of the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), a group that devised a compression standard for images.

4 International Telecommunications Union (ITU)

ITU is an agency of the United Nations and has three sectors:
(1) ITU-R deals with radio communications.
(2) ITU-D is a development sector.
(3) ITU-T deals with telecommunications.
International Telecommunications Union sets standards for modems, e-mail, and digital telephone systems. The ITU has contributed to the following standards:
•      The V standards for modem communications, such as the new V.90 standard for 56 Kbps transmissions.
•      The X.400 standards for international exchange of e-mail.
•      The X.500 standards for creation of a worldwide e-mail directory.
•      The X.25 WAN standards.

5 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

The IEEE is the largest professional organization in the world and consists of computing and engineering professionals. It is involved in developing standards for computing, communication, and for processes in electrical engineering, and electronics.

It sponsored an important standard for local area networks called Project 802. The 802 specifications are as follows:

6 International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, in which over 100 countries participate.ISOs most significant activities is its work on open systems, which define the Is that would allow any two computers to communicate independent of their feature. Open Systems Interconnections (OSI) model contains seven layer Is for network communications.

Internet Society (ISOC) and the Associated Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
it society and the Internet Engineering Task Force are concerned with ing the growth and in the evaluation of Internet communications. The Internet concentrates on users issues, including enhancements to the TCP/IP protocol ETF focuses on technical Internet issues (hardware and software). Important unions include the development of Simple Network Management Protocol 1.

Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
responsible to develop network cabling standards. EIA has made significant situations by defining physical connection interfaces and electronic signaling rations for data communications. TIA was created as a separate body within the , develop telecommunications and cabling standards. Their most well-known rd is the RS-232 (also called EIA-232) standard, which most PCs use for macerating with other devices such as modems or printers.

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