Heavy Networking HN805: The Past, Present, and Future of NANOG
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Nov 14, 2025 Steve Feldman, a veteran member of NANOG's Board of Directors, shares insights on the evolution of this crucial organization. He discusses NANOG's origins and key milestones, the symbiotic relationship with IETF, and how the internet landscape has shifted operator-vendor communications. Feldman emphasizes NANOG's role in tackling current hype cycles and maintaining relevance in a blurring service-provider landscape. He also highlights upcoming focuses, including AI and site reliability engineering, while reinforcing NANOG’s mission to educate the global networking community.
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Origins From Regional Techs
- NANOG grew directly out of Regional Techs when NSF pulled back in the early 1990s and the same operator community kept meeting.
- Steve Feldman described how early operators relied on personal relationships to solve network problems and coordinated face-to-face at NANOG One.
NANOG As The 'Running Code' Lab
- NANOG served as the 'running code' counterpart to the IETF by implementing and testing protocols in production networks.
- Steve Feldman emphasized the synergistic relationship where IETF creates protocols and operators make them work in practice.
Scale Changed Operator-Standards Roles
- The internet's scale and vendor diversity changed who bridges standards and operations; fewer individuals now span both worlds.
- Steve Feldman noted that growth made communication between standards bodies and operators harder but still essential.