Answer to Question #164927 in Computer Networks for Ali

Question

1. Objectives

The main objective of this project is to let you know in more detail the design and description process of a Management Information Base (MIB). A simple case will be studied and treated with the formalism dictated by SMI-v2 described by RFC 1213.

2. Introduction

SMI-v2 uses only a very small subset of ASN.1 and has few templates to formally describe an information base.

RFC 1213 gives the formalism to use a description of a MIB that will be handled with the SNMP protocol. This project will therefore ask you to familiarize yourself with this RFC.

3. Presentation of the context and design of the MIB

You should design a private Management Information Base to supervise a host. The goal is to use SNMP to communicate the information to a network management application and to be able to automatically control the state, generate useful reports and possibly detect performance or security issues.

- What information would be required to manage a host?

- Distinguish between the simple variables and their types, and the tables necessary for this information base.

 

4. Formal description of the MIB

For this part, we will offer you a simplified MIB in the Appendix. According to an informal description, you must format this MIB in accordance with the SMI-v2 standard. Pay particular attention to how a table should be described, and to the DESCRIPTION field of each object.

- Name the module containing the MIB using the following format: studentName-StudentID-MIB,

- Choose the OID (Object Identifier) ​​of each element,

- Define a coherent tree structure,

- Use the ASN.1 syntax for the types of the elements.

-Write the complete MIB in text format using the SMI-v2 standard (refer to the tutorial of SMI)

 5. Appendix

The elements to consider for the design of the MIB are:

1- Percentage of free CPU "freeCPULoad"

2- Percentage of unallocated memory "freeMemoryLoad"

3- If the workstation is an "isWebServer" web server

4- The operating system version "version"

5- The old start date of the "lastHostReboot" system

6- The number of current users that are logged into the "usersNumber" workstation

7- A table of these users: "usersTable"

8- The user's login name, "userId"

9- The date of the opening of the session, "userLoginDate"

 

Answer 1

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet standard, it manages devices that are connected to IP networks. It is widely used in ERPs. MIB is using this standard to communicate in the network. A management information base (MIB) is a database used for managing the entities in a communication network. Most often associated with the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the term is also used more generically in contexts such as in OSI/ISO network management model. While intended to refer to the complete collection of management information available on an entity, it is often used to refer to a particular subset, more correctly referred to as MIB-module.

Objects in the MIB are defined using a subset of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) called "Structure of Management Information Version 2 (SMIv2)" RFC 2578. The software that performs the parsing is a MIB compiler.

The database is hierarchical (tree-structured) and each entry is addressed through an object identifier (OID). Internet documentation RFCs discuss MIBs, notably RFC 1155, "Structure and Identification of Management Information for TCP/IP based internets", and its two companions, RFC 1213, "Management Information Base for Network Management of TCP/IP-based internets", and RFC 1157, "A Simple Network Management Protocol".

SMIv2 and structure of management information:

The second version of the SMI (SMIv2) is described in RFC 2578 and RFC 2579. It enhances and adds to the SMIv1-specific data types, such as including bit strings, network addresses, and counters. Bit strings are defined only in SMIv2 and comprise zero or more named bits that specify a value. Network addresses represent an address from a particular protocol family. Counters are non-negative integers that increase until they reach a maximum value and then return to zero. In SMIv1, a 32-bit counter size is specified. In SMIv2, 32-bit and 64-bit counters are defined.

SMIv2 also specifies information modules, which specify a group of related definitions. Three types of SMI information modules exist MIB modules, compliance statements, and capability statements.

• MIB modules contain definitions of interrelated managed objects.
• Compliance statements provide a systematic way to describe a group of managed objects that must be implemented for conformance to a standard.
• Capability statements are used to indicate the precise level of support that an agent claims with respect to a MIB group. An NMS can adjust its behavior toward agents according to the capabilities statements associated with each agent.

What Features Do I Need in an SNMP RTU (Remote Telemetry Unit)?

NetGuardian 832A SNMP RTU (Remote Telemetry Unit)

Here are 5 essential features that your SNMP RTU (Remote Telemetry Unit) must have:

1. Discrete alarm inputs (also called digital inputs or contact closures): These are typically used to monitor equipment failures, intrusion alarms, beacons, and flood and fire detectors.
2. Analog alarm inputs: Analog alarms measure continuously variable levels of voltage or current. Analog alarms monitor temperature, humidity, and pressure, all of which can critically affect equipment performance.
3. Ping alarms: An RTU (Remote Telemetry Unit) that supports ping alarms will ping devices on your network at regular intervals. If a device fails to respond, the RTU (Remote Telemetry Unit) will send an alarm as an SNMP Trap.
4. Control relays: An RTU (Remote Telemetry Unit) with control relay outputs will let you operate remote site equipment directly from your NOC.
5. Terminal server function: Your RTU (Remote Telemetry Unit) can also serve as a terminal server to remote-site serial devices. Your devices connect to the RTU's serial ports, giving you immediate Telnet access via LAN from your NOC at any time.

Within the MIB the managed objects are organized in a containment hierarchy or tree structure, as in Figure 16.16, where the subordinate nodes on the tree are contained within superior objects. This tree is called a Management Information Tree (MIT). Operations on managed objects within the MIB need knowledge of this containment hierarchy. Each managed object has a name and this name is formed by concatenating the names of all its superior objects within the MIT. The object at the head of the tree is the ROOT and an object's name relative to the root is called its distinguishing name (DN). The name of an object relative to any other superior object below the root is called its relative distinguishing name (RDN). For example, in Figure 16.16, object D has an RDN of D, relative to C, and an RDN of CD relative to B. It has a DN of ABCD. All DNS is unique within an entire system, but RDNs are only unique within a limited confine, such as a network, a switch, or a geographical area. Names are important since they are used to select managed objects, in the exchanges which occur between managers and agent managers.

A Management Information Base (MIB) is a collection of manageable network objects. These objects are a logical representation of physical networking components that are SNMP-enabled (such as computers, hubs, routers, switches, and networking software). MIBs contain information about the configuration of these networking components, such as the version of the software running on the component, the IP address or port number, and the amount of available disk space for storage. MIBs function as a kind of directory containing the logical names of the network resources and their configuration parameters that are managed by SNMP.