Internet Assigned Numbers Authority facts for kids
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| Abbreviation | IANA |
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| Founded | December 1988 |
| Founder | U.S. Federal Government |
| Focus | Manage DNS zones |
| Headquarters | 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536, USA |
| Location |
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| Owner | ICANN |
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Key people
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Kim Davies |
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is like the traffic controller of the internet. It's a group that makes sure unique numbers and names are given out correctly. This helps the internet work smoothly all over the world.
IANA handles things like IP addresses, which are like phone numbers for computers. It also manages domain names, which are the website addresses you type, like wikipedia.org. IANA makes sure these are unique so everyone can find what they're looking for online.
Today, IANA is part of ICANN, a non-profit group created in 1998. Before that, a person named Jon Postel at the University of Southern California mostly managed IANA's tasks.
There are also five regional Internet registries (RIRs) around the world. They help IANA by giving out internet numbers to smaller groups, like internet service providers (ISPs).
Contents
What IANA Does
IANA is in charge of giving out special names and numbers used in internet rules. These rules are written in documents called Request for Comments (RFCs). IANA works closely with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to do this.
For big internet parts like IP addresses and domain names, IANA also helps set up policies. This is because these resources are used by many different groups.
IANA assigns "Internet numbers." These are special codes given to internet resources. Examples include IP addresses and autonomous system (AS) numbers.
IP Addresses
IANA gives out blocks of IP addresses to the regional Internet registries (RIRs). Each RIR covers a different part of the world. Together, the RIRs form the Number Resource Organization to work together.
The RIRs then divide these large blocks into smaller ones. They give these smaller blocks to internet service providers and other groups in their areas. IANA used to give out many IPv4 addresses. But now, most IPv4 addresses have been used up. So, IANA no longer gives out new IPv4 addresses.
Domain Names
IANA manages the information for the root nameservers. These are like the top of the internet's address book, the Domain Name System (DNS). This job involves working with groups that manage top-level domains (like .com or .org).
Since 2010, IANA also helps with security for domain names using DNSSEC. This involves special "signing ceremonies." In these ceremonies, trusted people meet to create security keys. These people are not from ICANN or its partners. They come from the wider internet community.
IANA also runs special internet zones. These include the int registry for international groups. It also runs the arpa zone for internet infrastructure, like reverse DNS services.
Protocol Assignments
IANA keeps lists of internet protocols and their settings. It helps register new protocols. In 2015, there were over 2,800 such lists.
Time Zone Database
The IANA time zone database stores all the time zone differences and rules for the world. Computers and other devices use this information to show the correct time. IANA took over managing this database in 2011.
Language Subtag Registry
The IANA Language Subtag Registry lists codes for different languages. This helps computers understand and display languages correctly online. It was created by the IETF.
History of IANA
IANA started informally. It was a way to refer to the technical jobs that Jon Postel and Joyce K. Reynolds did. They worked at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute.
In 1972, Jon Postel suggested creating a list of "socket numbers." These numbers helped computers find services on the early internet. He called himself the czar of socket numbers. The name "IANA" first appeared in an official document in 1988. But the work of IANA had been going on for much longer.
In the 1990s, there were concerns about one company having too much control over domain names. Jon Postel tried to make IANA a more official organization. Sadly, he passed away in 1998.
Jon Postel managed IANA from its beginning until his death. He worked for almost 30 years to build the internet's structure. After he died, Joyce K. Reynolds helped move IANA's tasks to ICANN.
From 1988, the U.S. government funded IANA. In 1999, IANA officially became part of ICANN. In 2000, the U.S. Department of Commerce also made an agreement with ICANN for it to do the IANA jobs.
In 2013, many internet leaders released the Montevideo Statement. They were worried about global surveillance. They wanted to make IANA and ICANN more global. This meant less control from just one country, like the United States. They wanted all countries and groups to have an equal say.
This led to a big meeting in Brazil in 2014 called "NET mundial." It brought together governments, businesses, and other groups. They discussed how to manage the internet globally. The meeting aimed for decisions to be made by many different groups working together.
Who Oversees IANA Now
From 1998 to 2016, ICANN managed IANA. This was under a contract with the United States Department of Commerce (DOC). The DOC also checked IANA's work on the DNS root zone.
Over time, people wanted to move IANA's functions away from being tied to the U.S. government. They wanted it to be overseen by the global internet community.
In 2009, the contract between ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce ended. It was replaced by a new agreement. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it would transfer IANA's main internet functions to the global community.
In 2016, ICANN created a new non-profit group called Public Technical Identifiers (PTI). PTI took over the IANA functions. On October 1, 2016, the U.S. government's contract with ICANN for IANA expired. This officially moved IANA's oversight to the global private sector.
Managers of IANA
- In 1972, Jon Postel and Joyce K. Reynolds.
- In 1998, Joyce K. Reynolds.
- In 2003, Doug Barton.
- In 2005, David Conrad (engineer).
- In 2010, Elise Gerich.
- In 2018, Kim Davies.
See also
In Spanish: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority para niños
- American Registry for Internet Numbers
- Internet governance
- List of information technology initialisms
- List of TCP and UDP port numbers
- Montevideo Statement on the Future of Internet Cooperation
- National Internet registry
- NetMundial Initiative, a plan for international governance of the Internet first proposed at the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance (GMMFIG) conference, 23–24 April 2014).
- Private Enterprise Number
- Registration authority
