Network Management Protocols

Network management protocols carry network management data between the managed devices and the management console. The following network management protocols are defined by various Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards:

• SNMP The SNMP is used to communicate with a management "agent" in a network device. A remote manager collects status information and controls the remote device through the SNMP agent. There are three versions of SNMP:

  - SNMPv1 Reports only whether a device is functioning properly. In other words, it tells whether the device is "up" and running or "down."
  
  

  - SNMPv2 SNMPv1 with the addition of security and Remote Monitoring (RMON) Management Information Base (MIB) support. The RMON MIB provides continuous feedback to the network manager without having to be queried by the SNMP console.
  
  

  - SNMPv3 SNMPv2 with the addition of message level security. SNMPv3 also includes an MIB for remotely monitoring and managing the configuration parameters for the SNMPv3 Security Model.
  
  

• SNMP MIBs The SNMP agent delivers the MIB information to the network manager. Each managed resource has an MIB, containing what can be known about the device and the device's capabilities. An MIB for a router contains information about each interface bandwidth speed, protocols supported, and current status. An MIB for a server has information about the Central Processing Unit (CPU), operating system, memory, and disk usage space.

• MIB2 A standard MIB defining basic interface information such as bandwidth speed, numbers of packets sent and received by the interface, numbers of broadcast and unicast packets, and errors.

• RMON An MIB that controls an agent monitoring a single LAN segment. Collects information as instructed by the network management console about traffic levels, which systems are talking, and specific conversations between two parties.

• RMON2 An MIB for controlling agents that monitor traffic across the network (LAN/WAN). RMON2 measures traffic flows between different parts of the network and identifies which protocols and applications are in use by each system.

• Common Management Interface Protocol (CMIP) OSI standard protocol used with the Common Management Information Services (CMIS); CMIS defines a system of network management information services. CMIP provides improved security and better reporting of unusual network conditions. CMIP was proposed as a replacement for the SNMP but has not been adopted by the networking community for widespread implementation because of SNMP's incumbency.