SNMP Reference Guide

32 Introduction
Introduction to the Server Administrator SNMP
Subagent
This guide provides formatted information drawn primarily from the MIB files
written for the Server Administrator services that support the SNMP protocol.
For each of the variables defined in the MIBs, the following fields are specified:
• Variable name
• OID or unique identifying number
•Description
• Data type of the variable (for example: integer, string, octet string)
• Whether the variable is accessible, not accessible, read-only, or read-write
• Index or indexes, if applicable
For each MIB group that has unique variable definitions, tables are included
in the last section of the section to explain the meaning of the terms.
Standards for writing MIBs are defined by the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF). Structure of Management Information (SMI) is a standard
that specifies the rules for defining the structure and type of managed objects
and events in a MIB. SMIv1 is specified in Request For Comments (RFC)
1155. The Server Administrator MIB conforms to the SMIv1 standard.
SNMP is a systems management standard originally designed for network
management. SNMP manages much more than networks. Information
Technology (IT) professionals use SNMP for monitoring and managing
computer systems and the various components and peripherals supported by
their systems.
SNMP standards are defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
SNMP version 1 was published in August 1988 and is the most commonly
supported version of SNMP. SNMP version 2 was first published in May 1993,
but has not gained widespread market acceptance. SNMP version 3 was
recently completed and has addressed security issues that exist in version 1.
All SNMP systems consist of one or more managed systems that provide data
through an SNMP agent to a management system. The management system
provides a user interface to view data from the managed systems. The
management system and managed systems communicate over a network
(typically through User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol [UDP/IP]).