RFCs

• IP - defines the datagrams (packets of data) that all data on the Internet is carried within (98K).
• TCP - provides a means of exchanging a continuous, error free stream of bytes between computers. TCP 'packets' are normally carried across networks within IP datagrams (173K).
• UDP - slightly more sophisticated than raw IP datagrams, but not much. UDP datagrams are carried within IP datagrams (6K).
• ICMP - 'network status enquiries and reports', carried by IP. (I could explain what ICMP is, but it would take a while. Ping(8) uses this) (29K).
• SMTP - simple mail transfer protocol, e-mail, you know, tcp port 25. (121K).
• XDR - a way of describing how various types of data (e.g. integers, arrays, structures, etc) should be transmitted across the network. Not quite as boring as it sounds because RPC uses it (39K).
• RPC - allows a program to call 'procedures' on a machine across a network in a similar way that it would call normal functions. RPC is described using XDR. It is normally carried by UDP datagrams, although sometimes TCP is used (52K).
• NFS - allows you to treat files across a network exactly the same as files on your own disk drives. NFS uses RPC (50K).
• ident/auth - a way for a machine to ask another machine "What user is using this TCP connection that you have to me?", although bear in mind the reply can be something like "Sod off, thats none of your business" (17K).
• other RFCs - there are lots more, this directory at my U.K. university's ftp site keeps virtually all of them (non local link).
• full index - non html (non local link) (198K).
• html - a project to convert RFCs into HTML, including cross references etc (non local link).