RFC 1757 (rfc1757) - Page 2 of 91


Remote Network Monitoring Management Information Base



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



RFC 1757             Remote Network Monitoring MIB         February 1995


   9. Author's Address ......................................   90
   10. Appendix: Changes from RFC 1271 ......................   91

1.  The Network Management Framework

   The Internet-standard Network Management Framework consists of three
   components.  They are:

      STD 16, RFC 1155 [1] which defines the SMI, the mechanisms used
      for describing and naming objects for the purpose of management.

      STD 16, RFC 1212 [2] defines a more concise description mechanism,
      which is wholly consistent with the SMI.

      STD 17, RFC 1213 [3] which defines MIB-II, the core set of managed
      objects for the Internet suite of protocols.

      STD 15, RFC 1157 [4] which defines the SNMP, the protocol used for
      network access to managed objects.

   The Framework permits new objects to be defined for the purpose of
   experimentation and evaluation.

   Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
   the Management Information Base or MIB.  Within a given MIB module,
   objects are defined using RFC 1212's OBJECT-TYPE macro.  At a
   minimum, each object has a name, a syntax, an access-level, and an
   implementation-status.

   The name is an object identifier, an administratively assigned name,
   which specifies an object type.  The object type together with an
   object instance serves to uniquely identify a specific instantiation
   of the object.  For human convenience, we often use a textual string,
   termed the object descriptor, to also refer to the object type.

   The syntax of an object type defines the abstract data structure
   corresponding to that object type.  The ASN.1[5] language is used for
   this purpose.  However, RFC 1155 purposely restricts the ASN.1
   constructs which may be used.  These restrictions are explicitly made
   for simplicity.

   The access-level of an object type defines whether it makes "protocol
   sense" to read and/or write the value of an instance of the object
   type.  (This access-level is independent of any administrative
   authorization policy.)

   The implementation-status of an object type indicates whether the
   object is mandatory, optional, obsolete, or deprecated.



Waldbusser