Ctrl+Alt+Route

RFC Published: April 1, 1996
Author: Ross Callon
You can read RFC 1925 here: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1925.html
RFC 1925 is a humorous yet painfully accurate document that outlines twelve fundamental “truths” about computer networking. While written as an April Fools’ RFC, it has aged exceptionally well and remains one of the most quoted documents in networking circles.

Rather than defining a protocol or architecture, RFC 1925 captures the realities engineers encounter when designing, deploying, and troubleshooting networks in the real world. It blends dry humor with hard-earned wisdom, making it both entertaining and educational.

At its core, this RFC reminds us that networking is messy, trade-offs are unavoidable, and reality rarely matches the whiteboard.

Key Takeaways from RFC 1925

• It Has to Work
  Elegant designs and best practices don’t matter if the network fails in the real world. Functionality always comes first.
• There Are Always Trade-offs
  You can’t optimize for performance, security, cost, and simplicity at the same time. Every design choice sacrifices something.
• Complexity Is Inevitable
  Networks are always more complicated than expected, and some behaviors can’t be fully understood, only managed.
• Failure Will Happen
  No network is perfectly secure or reliable. Design for failure with redundancy, monitoring, and realistic expectations.

What’s an RFC?

A Request for Comment (RFC) is a formal document created by the IETF and other standards bodies that defines everything from internet protocols, networking architectures and best practices.

RFCs are how the internet evolves. Many of the protocols you use every day like TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, BGP, SMTP, all originated as RFCs.

They’re publicly available, versioned, and archived for anyone to study.

If you’re new to RFCs, these are excellent starting points:

• How to Read an RFC: https://www.ietf.org/blog/how-read-rfc/
• RFC Availability & Use: https://www.ietf.org/process/rfcs/#availability-and-use