RFC 2021 (rfc2021) - Page 2 of 130

Remote Network Monitoring Management Information Base Version 2 using SMIv2

RFC 2021             Remote Network Monitoring MIB          January 1997


1.  The Network Management Framework

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

   RFC 1902 [1] which defines the SMI, the mechanisms used for
   describing and naming objects for the purpose of management.

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

   RFC 1905 [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 the SMI'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 [6] language is used
   for this purpose.  However, RFC 1902 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.

2.  Overview

   This document continues the architecture created in the RMON MIB [RFC
   1757] by providing a major feature upgrade, primarily by providing
   RMON analysis up to the application layer.



Waldbusser                  Standards Track