White Paper - Remote Management SNMP SubAgent

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White Paper Remote Management:

SNMP Sub-agent for Intel®

Server Hardware

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is used ubiquitously to monitor and control any device

over the network by exchanging SNMP messages. The SNMP, defined by IETF [1], has gained

significant popularity among the software, hardware, telecom, and network industries. SNMP was

derived from its predecessor SGMP (Simple Gateway Management Protocol). This is considered as a de

facto and standard client-server protocol to transfer the management information over the network.

In 1988, the initial version of SNMP (version 1) used TCP/IP suite and supported GET, GET-NEXT, and

SET methods to get management information from the managed node. The SNMPv2c was introduced

with improvements in performance, security, and confidentiality with support of GET-BULK. The

SNMPv3 was recognized by IETF [1] in 2004 with three new important features - message integrity,

authentication, and encryption. SNMPv3 notification message can be sent as trap or inform. Traps are

unreliable. On the other hand, the SNMP inform messages are reliable. The management application

on the receiving-end sends the acknowledgement to the sender SNMP agent.

Remote management of devices in a network is a prime requirement for IT management.

Management of Intel EPSD servers is a use-case for such requirement. SNMP, a network management

protocol, is a widely accepted protocol for transferring management information over the network.

The overall system health information and alerts related to sensors from EPSD servers are available

by using SNMP. The purpose of this whitepaper is to describe different solutions and features of

SNMP based remote management of Intel server hardware. These solutions are out-of-band SNMP

agent in BMC and in-band Intel® Baseboard SNMP sub-agent.

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Summary of content (11 pages)

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White Paper Remote Management: SNMP Sub-agent for Intel® Server Hardware Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is used ubiquitously to monitor and control any device over the network by exchanging SNMP messages. The SNMP, defined by IETF [1], has gained significant popularity among the software, hardware, telecom, and network industries. SNMP was derived from its predecessor SGMP (Simple Gateway Management Protocol).
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1. Basics of SNMP The SNMP defines how the communication between two network nodes happens, message type and format, and message interpretation in accordance with its standards. The SNMP management application communicates to the SNMP agent to get management information from the managed device. The SNMP message is wrapped in the UDP packet and that inturn is wrapped in the IP packet. The SNMP resides in the application layer. The layered communication model for SNMP message is shown in Exhibit 1.
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Exhibit 2: SNMP Message Format 3. Baseboard Management Controller Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) defines a standardized, abstracted, message-based interface to server management hardware [4]. The key characteristics of IPMI for inventory, monitoring, logging and recovery control functions are available independent of the main processors, BIOS and operating system.
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These can be deleted and complete repository may be cleared by the management applications. SEL event record follows a format [6]. The management applications parse this information, get the time stamp, data on event, and sensor, etc. 5. SDR Repository and Sensor Model The SDR repository is a single non-volatile storage area that contains all the system SDRs.
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Exhibit 3: Specific Trap Field Exhibit 4: Variable-Bindings Field Page 5
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7. Intel® Baseboard In-band SNMP Sub-Agent The Intel®® Baseboard SNMP Sub-agent supports SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c versions. This is in-band agent. It communicates to the BMC using the driver that supports the IPMI specification. This way subagent runs on an Intel server in the OS, and gets information on all the platform sensors. Different flavors of Microsoft® Windows*, RHEL* and SUSE* operating systems are supported.
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traps are generated for each SEL event. The different types of events based on the devices present on the server are shown in Exhibit 6. Exhibit 6: Event Group MIB The in-band agent polls for the new SEL entries and generates the SNMP trap to the registered SNMP client systems. The number of events generated for each SEL entry depends on the type of SEL entry and Intel platforms. It also depends on the firmware and type of platform.
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7.2 Modify Sensor Thresholds Some of the sensors thresholds can be modified by the management application. These sensors thresholds are written to the SDR (Sensor Data Record) repository for each device accessible through the BMC. The voltage, temperature and fan sensors have modifiable thresholds. The SNMP SET command is used to modify the sensor thresholds.
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Exhibit 8: (a) HP Open View and (b) iReasoning MIB Browsers 8.2 iReasoning Networks* iReasoning Networks [9] provides “SysUpTime Network Monitor” and “iReasoning MIB Browser” network management solutions. The SysUpTime MSP edition provides a complete solution for Managed Service Providers (MSP) and organizations with multiple sites to monitor any number of networks from a single central site.
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Exhibit 9: OIDView SNMP MIB Browser 8.3 OIDView SNMP Tools The OidView SNMP Tools from ByteSphere is a suite of network management products that includes MIB Browser, Trap Manager and SNMP Tester etc. [10]. OidView MIB Browser, as shown in Exhibit 1Exhibit 9, is SNMP management application and network management analyzer. It allows users to send SNMP requests and connect to manage network devices using telnet. It analyzes the MIB walk files from multiple vendors. 9.
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Disclaimers Information in this document is provided in connection with Intel® products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property rights is granted by this document.