Structure of Management Information for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)
Jeffrey D. Case, K. McCloghrie, M. Rose, S. Waldbusser · 1996
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol.Distribution of this memo is unlimited. IntroductionA management system contains: several (potentially many) nodes, each with a processing entity, termed an agent, which has access to management instrumentation; at least one management station; and, a management protocol, used to convey management information between the agents and management stations.Operations of the protocol are carried out under an administrative framework which defines authentication, authorization, access control, and privacy policies.Management stations execute management applications which monitor and control managed elements.Managed elements are devices such as hosts, routers, terminal servers, etc., which are monitored and controlled via access to their management information.Management information is viewed as a collection of managed objects, residing in a virtual information store, termed the Management Information Base (MIB).Collections of related objects are defined in MIB modules.These modules are written using an adapted subset of OSI's Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)[1].It is the purpose of this document, the Structure of Management Information (SMI), to define that adapted subset, and to assign a set of associated administrative values. SNMPv2 Working Group Standards Track [Page 1]RFC 1902SMI for SNMPv2 January 1996The SMI is divided into three parts: module definitions, object definitions, and, notification definitions.(1) Module definitions are used when describing information modules.An ASN.1 macro, MODULE-IDENTITY, is used to concisely convey the semantics of an information module.(2) Object definitions are used when describing managed objects.An ASN.1 macro, OBJECT-TYPE, is used to concisely convey the syntax and semantics of a managed object.(3) Notification definitions are used when describing unsolicited transmissions of management information.An ASN.1 macro, NOTIFICATION-TYPE, is used to concisely convey the syntax and semantics of a notification. A Note on TerminologyFor the purpose of exposition, the original Internet-standard Network Management Framework, as described in RFCs 1155 (STD 16), 1157 (STD 15), and 1212 (STD 16), is termed the SNMP version 1 framework (SNMPv1).The current framework is termed the SNMP version 2 framework (SNMPv2).2.