Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved


Chapter 6 SNMPv2c and SNMPv3 : Overview

Overview
SNMP is an application-level protocol that manages network elements, such as TIBCO Messaging Appliance P-7500 systems. The goal of SNMP is to simplify network management by defining a single management protocol that can be used by clients to manage any network element from any vendor.
The SNMP protocol comprises the following three elements:
An SNMP client. The SNMP client runs on a network host and communicates with one or more SNMP servers on other network elements, such as routers, to configure and monitor the operation of those network elements.
An SNMP server. The SNMP server operates on a network element, such as a router, switch, or computer. It responds to SNMP requests received from SNMP clients and generates trap messages to alert the clients about state changes in the network element.
A Management Information Base (MIB). A MIB specifies the format of managed information for a network element function. The goal of a MIB is to provide a common and consistent management representation for that function across network elements within the network.
A standard MIB is defined by a body such as the IETF and fosters consistency of management information representation across many vendors’ networking products. An enterprise MIB is defined by a single vendor.
The TIBCO Enterprise-specific MIB defines both the environmental and routing data included as MIB objects for P-7500 systems and their components. Refer to Appendix A TIBCO Enterprise-specific MIB in TIBCO Messaging Appliance P-7500 Maintenance and Troubleshooting for details.
SNMP defines a client-server model in which a client obtains information from the server through two mechanisms:
A request/response protocol by which the client configures and monitors the server. In this instance, the information is solicited.
Asynchronous reports by which the server, on its own initiative, reports notable changes in the system’s status to the client. In this instance, the information is unsolicited.
SNMPv3 is an extensible SNMP framework that supplements the SNMPv2c framework by supporting security for messages based on the User-based Security Model (USM) defined in Request for Comments (RFC) 3414.
SNMP Terminology
Refer to Table 6 for a list of general SNMP terms. Refer to Table 7 for a list of basic SNMPv3 terms.
A logical group of SNMP-managed devices and clients in the same administrative domain. Each community is associated with a group.
Message sent by an SNMP server to a client to indicate the occurrence of a status change (that is, event), most often errors or failures. Network elements use traps to asynchronously report certain events to clients.
Message sent by an SNMPv3 server to a client to indicate the occurrence of a status change (that is, event), most often errors or failures. Like traps, network elements use SNMPv3 notifications to asynchronously report certain events to clients. Notifications differ from traps in that they are acknowledged by the client.
An individual who requires access to the system. The system may provide authentication and privacy for the user through SNMPv3 security features. Each user is associated with a group.
TIBCO Messaging Appliance P-7500 supports one predefined SNMPv3 view for each group: everything. It includes all MIBs associated with the system.
Supported SNMP Versions
TIBCO Messaging Appliance P-7500 supports:
The server encodes SNMP responses using the same SNMP version received in the corresponding request and encodes traps using the SNMP version configured for the trap recipient.
Supported SNMP Standards
The Request for Comments (RFC) standards documents listed in Table 8 define SNMP and the standard MIBs supported by TIBCO Messaging Appliance P-7500.
RFC 1157
RFC 1213
RFC 2863
RFC 3410
RFC 3414
RFC 3416
RFC 3418
1  For details, refer to the “Request for Comments” home page on the IETF Web site, at http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html.

Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved