Information Sheet

963 SNMP
963 SNMP Information Sheet

1. WHAT IS SNMP?
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a standard network protocol created to allow IT device information (performance,
fault conditions, status etc.) to be communicated to Network Management Systems (NMSs).

2. WHERE IS IT USED?
In the IT industry.

3. WHY IS IT IN 963?
Trend IQ systems are increasingly used to monitor and control the environment of critical IT systems. Large, IT intensive users
already have sophisticated NMSs in place to monitor their systems and control the fault tracking, engineer callout functions etc.
Using 963 SNMP, key alarms related to the IT systems can be forwarded from the Trend IQ system into the NMSs to provide early
warnings of system faults, such as HVAC failure etc.

4. SNMP BASIC TERMINOLOGY

An SNMP-managed network consists of three key components: managed devices, agents, and network-management systems
(NMSs).

A managed device is a network node that contains an SNMP agent and that resides on a managed network. Managed
devices collect and store management information and make this information available to NMSs using SNMP. Managed
devices, sometimes called network elements, can be routers and access servers, switches and bridges, hubs, computer
hosts, or printers.

An agent is a network-management software module that resides in a managed device. An agent has local knowledge of
management information and translates that information into a form compatible with SNMP.

An NMS executes applications that monitor and control managed devices. NMSs provide the bulk of the processing and
memory resources required for network management. One or more NMSs must exist on any managed network.

963 behaves as an agent.

There are 4 basic commands used to pass data between the agents, devices and NMSs: read, write, trap, and traversal.

The read command is used by NMSs to read specific data from a device.

The write command is used by NMSs to adjust specific data in the devices.

The trap command is used by agents and devices to send events to NMSs.

The traversal command is used by NMS to discover details about the devices.

963 supports only the ‘trap’ command i.e. it may not be interrogated by NMSs.

MIB - short for Management Information Base, it describes the information which is available in the device or agent. 963 ships with
a MIB file “963SNMP.MIB”. This file is used by the NMS so that it can interpret the data fields in the 963 trap command.

X.733 - IT Standard for alarm reporting traps. It attempts to categorise alarms into types (below), provide a method that allows
NMSs to correlate alarms (the equivalent of a Trend clear alarm being matched to it’s original occurred alarm), and attempts to
define what information should be conveyed in the trap.

The five alarm types are: Communications alarm; Quality of service alarm; Processing alarm; Equipment alarm; environmental
alarm.

Trend alarms can be effectively categorised by 963 through the use of alarm filters and/or priority levels. This can be customised
to suite the needs of each individual customer (see later). The 963 alarm trap may not be able to convey all the different types of
data defined in X.733.

5. WHAT VERSION OF SNMP DOES 963 SUPPORT?

SNMPv1

6. WHAT ARE THE CONTENTS OF A 963 MIB FILE?

The MIB file may be opened in ‘Notepad’. The MIB file is intended to be read by the NMS –it is not in a human readable format.

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7. HOW DO I SET IT UP?

7.1. CONFIGURING 963
1. Enable 963’s SNMP functionality with the appropriate licence.
2. Obtain the IP address of the NMS(s) to which alarms are to be sent.
3. Decide which alarms you need to forward as SNMP traps.
4. Create alarm filters to catch the required alarm(s).
5. Create a retransmission destination for the NMS(s). One destination can send to a maximum of 3 NMSs.
6. Create an alarm group which uses the filters created above, and set the group’s alarm action to retransmit the filtered alarms
to the destination created above.
7. Use the ‘EXTRAINFO’ fields to satisfy any customer-specific requests.

Full details of the exact configuration are in the 963 Engineering Manual (TE200637).

7.2. CONFIGURING THE NMS(S)

This must be performed by the NMS engineer. They will need a copy of the ‘963snmp.mib’ file. A full description of the data fields is
in the 963 Engineering Manual (TE200637).

8. CAN I SEND A ‘HEART BEAT’ SNMP TRAP?

Yes. Configure a LOGMSG command in the 963 scheduler to create an internal alarm at the required interval. The LOGMSG details
should be set to match the filters created in the alarm viewer so that a new 963 trap is triggered.

9. CAN I TELL IF MY TRAPS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED?

No. SNMP does not support secure delivery.

10. CAN I SEND TO MORE THAN 3 IP ADDRESSES?

Yes. Create as many retransmission destinations as required – each can go to 3 places. Create one alarm group for each
destination ‑ each can use the same set of filters to catch the same set of alarms.

11. CAN 963 SEND SEQUENTIAL TRAP NUMBERS?

Because SNMP is not a secure delivery, some customers request a data field which holds an ever increasing number. Their NMS
can then determine if it has lost a trap by looking for gaps in the numbering sequence.

963 creates a unique ‘alarm ID’ which is sequential for all alarms logged. In a typical system, not all alarms are retransmitted hence
those sent via SNMP traps will have gaps in the sequence. However, if ALL 963 alarms were transmitted then this could be used
to satisfy the requirement.

12. WHAT INFORMATION IS SENT BY A 963 TRAP?

Field Description
Alarm ID The unique alarm identifier
Device The controller reference (Connection/LAN/OS)
Controller SEND time The time the IQ controller sent the alarm
Alarm Module Not used
Alarm Description Alarm description text
Alarm Code The 4-character aiarm code
Module Label THe strategy module label
Extra Info 1 User-defined text (can be Anything)
Extra Info 2 User-defined text (can be Anything)

Full details of the exact data formats are in the 963 Engineering Manual.

13. CAN I USE SNMP TO SEND ALARMS BETWEEN TWO 963 SUPERVISORS?
No. 963 can only send trap commands. Use one of the other Trend retransmission formats for your inter-963 alarms (e.g. Free
Format).

14. CAN 963 RESPOND TO SNMP COMMANDS?

No. 963 can only send trap commands to an NMS.

15. HOW CAN I TEST MY 963 SNMP CONFIGURATION?

Various free tools are available for testing 963 SNMP transmission. The development team have used http://www.bttsoftware.co.uk/
snmptrap.html and http://www.loriotpro.com/Products/Features/Summary_Free_Edition_EN.php during tests.

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16. REFERENCES
16.1. SNMP
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/snmp.htm
http://isp.webopedia.com/TERM/S/SNMP.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNMP

16.2. X.733
http://www3.ietf.org/proceedings/00mar/slides/tmnsnmp-bof-00mar/sld031.htm
http://www1.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/syslog/current/msg00640.html

16.3. TYPICAL NMS

HP OpenView: http://www.novadigm.com/

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Division of Honeywell Technologies Sàrl, Z.A. La Pièce, 16, 1180 Rolle, Switzerland by its Authorized Representative, Trend Control Systems Limited.

Trend Control Systems Limited reserves the right to revise this publication from time to time and make changes to the content hereof without obligation
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Trend Control Systems Limited
St. Marks Court, North Street, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1BW, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1403 211888, www.trendcontrols.com

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