Objectives

429
Š Overview of SNMP
Š SNMP Tools
SNMP Š Direct Access to Cisco Routers

(c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 2

A Perspective on Managing The Network Management

Network Nodes Utopia

Probes User Network Management

Useful Stuff Done Here C System
Statistics Interface

E
(c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 3 (c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 4

The Problem SNMP Structure

Š Vendor-specific code for every device is too Š Simple Protocol Structure

expensive to maintain „ Information retrieval
Š The device cannot spend resources z GET, GET-NEXT, GET-BULK
interpreting complex requests „ Setting Parameters
z SET
Š SNMP: Simple Network Management
„ Alarms
Protocol – Simple commands, complexity
z TRAP
placed into the management system

(c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 5 (c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 6

1
 The Hard Part
Š Create a description (database schema) for
the information
„ Defines the type of information
„ Documents the meaning of the information
„ Allows many independently developed standards
to be merged in a device
(c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann
The Classification Scheme
Š Every group of related information items has
a common prefix (sequence of integers)
Š Prefixes are organized in a hierarchy
Š Items can be single values or multiple
instances of an item type
(c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann
Example
Š Most commonly used items are in
„ mib-2 {internet mgmt(2) mib-2(1)}
Š The name assigned to an entity is
„ sysName {mib-2 system(1) sysName(5)}
Š Information on router interfaces are in
„ mib-2 interface(2) ifTable(2) ifEntry(1)
ifIndex(1) ….
(c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 11
MIB
Š Management Information Base
Š Defines an extensible classification scheme
for pieces of information
Š Codes the information and documentation
into a formal specification language (ASN.1)
7 (c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 8
Some Specifics
Š The stuff we are interested in has the prefix
„ iso (1)
„ org (3)
„ dod (6)
„ internet (1)
Š Also written as 1.3.6.1
9 (c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 10
Final Thoughts
Š SNMP has no security (at least none that has
been standardized)
Š SNMP’s primary use is therefore for
monitoring, not for configuration
Š Several high-end network management
systems exist that are based on SNMP
(HP Openview, Aprisma SPECTRUM)
(c) 2001, Hans Kruse and Shawn Ostermann 12