RFC 2474 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 1998
MON · 27 JUL 2026
Definition of the Differentiated Services Field in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers
Overview
RFC 2474, “Definition of the Differentiated Services Field in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers”, is a Proposed Standard document published in December 1998 by K. Nichols, S. Blake, F. Baker, D. Black. It updates RFC 791. It obsoletes RFC 1349, RFC 1455. It has since been updated by RFC 3168, RFC 3260, RFC 8436. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
This document defines the IP header field, called the DS (for differentiated services) field. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
What “Proposed Standard” means
An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.
Read this RFC
The canonical text of RFC 2474 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
Relationships to other RFCs
Other RFCs from 1998
- RFC 2473 Generic Packet Tunneling in IPv6 Specification
- RFC 2475 An Architecture for Differentiated Services
- RFC 2472 IP Version 6 over PPP
- RFC 2476 Message Submission
- RFC 2471 IPv6 Testing Address Allocation
- RFC 2470 Transmission of IPv6 Packets over Token Ring Networks
- RFC 2478 The Simple and Protected GSS-API Negotiation Mechanism
- RFC 2469 A Caution On The Canonical Ordering Of Link-Layer Addresses