RFC 3434 (rfc3434) - Page 2 of 24

Remote Monitoring MIB Extensions for High Capacity Alarms

RFC 3434                High Capacity Alarm MIB            December 2002


   10 Security Considerations .....................................   22
   11 Authors' Addresses ..........................................   23
   12 Full Copyright Statement ....................................   24

1. The Internet-Standard Management Framework

   For a detailed overview of the documents that describe the current
   Internet-Standard Management Framework, please refer to section 7 of
   RFC 3410 [RFC 3410].

   Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
   the Management Information Base or MIB.  MIB objects are generally
   accessed through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
   Objects in the MIB are defined using the mechanisms defined in the
   Structure of Management Information (SMI).  This memo specifies a MIB
   module that is compliant to the SMIv2, which is described in STD 58,
   RFC 2578 [RFC 2578], STD 58, RFC 2579 [RFC 2579] and STD 58, RFC 2580
   [RFC 2580].

2.  Terms

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED",  "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119.
   [RFC 2119]

3.  Overview

   There is a need for a standardized way of providing the same type of
   alarm thresholding capabilities for Counter64 objects, as already
   exists for Counter32 objects.  The RMON-1 alarmTable objects and
   RMON-1 notification types are specific to 32-bit objects, and cannot
   be used to properly monitor Counter64-based objects.  Extensions to
   these existing constructs which explicitly support Counter64-based
   objects are needed.  These extensions are completely independent of
   the existing RMON-1 alarm mechanisms.

   The usage of Counter64 objects is increasing.  One of the causes for
   this increase is the increasing speeds of network interfaces; RFC
   2863 [RFC 2863] says:

      As the speed of network media increase, the minimum time in which
      a 32 bit counter will wrap decreases.  For example, a 10Mbs stream
      of back-to-back, full-size packets causes ifInOctets to wrap in
      just over 57 minutes; at 100Mbs, the minimum wrap time is 5.7
      minutes, and at 1Gbs, the minimum is 34 seconds.  Requiring that
      interfaces be polled frequently enough not to miss a counter wrap
      is increasingly problematic.



Bierman & McCloghrie        Standards Track