John Curran (businessman)
Encyclopedia
John Curran is an early Internet executive, and the President and CEO of the American Registry for Internet Numbers
(ARIN). He was a founder of ARIN
and served as the Chairman from inception through 2009. Curran ran several early Internet companies including BBN Planet, XO Communications
, and Servervault.
& Chief Technical Officer
of ServerVault (a federally-oriented secure hosting company acquired by Carpathia Hosting),Chief Technical Officer of XO Communications
, and Chief Technical Officer of BBN. Curran also worked for Combustion Engineering/Asea Brown Boveri and Control Data Corporation
. Curran provided technical leadership to BBN's commercial Internet efforts, including working on the early Internet research networks (CSNET
and NEARNET) and the NSFNET Network Service Center (NNSC) coordination center for the pre-commercial Internet.
John Curran has served as Area Director for Operations and Network Management Area of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF), as member of the IP Next Generation (IPng) area which led IPv6
development, and co-chaired the IETF Uniform Resource Name working group. He has authored RFC
s in early network joint operations (RFC 1355) and IPv6 area, as well as supporting work in network endpoint architecture. Curran has experience with Federal IT system security practices (including FISMA security standards) and cloud computing, and has advocated for improving of Federal IT access to cloud computing services.
Curran is author of RFC 5211, entitled "An Internet Transition Plan" which calls for moving the global Internet from its existing IPv4
protocol to a new protocol called IPv6
, as well as RFC 1669 entitled "Market Viability as a IPng Criteria", which summarizes some of the challenges IPv6
will have competing against IPv4
and the inevitable arrival of network address translation
devices. Curran is notable among association leaders for being quite reachable publicly, including directly responding to queries on public email lists.
American Registry for Internet Numbers
The American Registry for Internet Numbers is the Regional Internet Registry for Canada, many Caribbean and North Atlantic islands, and the United States. ARIN manages the distribution of Internet number resources, including IPv4 and IPv6 address space and AS numbers. ARIN opened its doors for...
(ARIN). He was a founder of ARIN
Arin
Arin may refer to:* American Registry for Internet Numbers* Arin, Armenia - A town in Armenia* Arin language - An extinct Yeniseic language* Arın Soğancıoğlu, Turkish basketball player...
and served as the Chairman from inception through 2009. Curran ran several early Internet companies including BBN Planet, XO Communications
XO Communications
XO Communications is a telecommunications company owned by XO Holdings, Inc...
, and Servervault.
Career
Curran held positions as Chief Operating OfficerChief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
& Chief Technical Officer
Chief technical officer
A chief technology officer is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization....
of ServerVault (a federally-oriented secure hosting company acquired by Carpathia Hosting),Chief Technical Officer of XO Communications
XO Communications
XO Communications is a telecommunications company owned by XO Holdings, Inc...
, and Chief Technical Officer of BBN. Curran also worked for Combustion Engineering/Asea Brown Boveri and Control Data Corporation
Control Data Corporation
Control Data Corporation was a supercomputer firm. For most of the 1960s, it built the fastest computers in the world by far, only losing that crown in the 1970s after Seymour Cray left the company to found Cray Research, Inc....
. Curran provided technical leadership to BBN's commercial Internet efforts, including working on the early Internet research networks (CSNET
CSNET
The Computer Science Network was a computer network that began operation in 1981 in the United States. Its purpose was to extend networking benefits, for computer science departments at academic and research institutions that could not be directly connected to ARPANET, due to funding or...
and NEARNET) and the NSFNET Network Service Center (NNSC) coordination center for the pre-commercial Internet.
John Curran has served as Area Director for Operations and Network Management Area of the Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
(IETF), as member of the IP Next Generation (IPng) area which led IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
development, and co-chaired the IETF Uniform Resource Name working group. He has authored RFC
Request for Comments
In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems.Through the Internet Society, engineers and...
s in early network joint operations (RFC 1355) and IPv6 area, as well as supporting work in network endpoint architecture. Curran has experience with Federal IT system security practices (including FISMA security standards) and cloud computing, and has advocated for improving of Federal IT access to cloud computing services.
Curran is author of RFC 5211, entitled "An Internet Transition Plan" which calls for moving the global Internet from its existing IPv4
IPv4
Internet Protocol version 4 is the fourth revision in the development of the Internet Protocol and the first version of the protocol to be widely deployed. Together with IPv6, it is at the core of standards-based internetworking methods of the Internet...
protocol to a new protocol called IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
, as well as RFC 1669 entitled "Market Viability as a IPng Criteria", which summarizes some of the challenges IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
will have competing against IPv4
IPv4
Internet Protocol version 4 is the fourth revision in the development of the Internet Protocol and the first version of the protocol to be widely deployed. Together with IPv6, it is at the core of standards-based internetworking methods of the Internet...
and the inevitable arrival of network address translation
Network address translation
In computer networking, network address translation is the process of modifying IP address information in IP packet headers while in transit across a traffic routing device....
devices. Curran is notable among association leaders for being quite reachable publicly, including directly responding to queries on public email lists.