RFC 1414 (rfc1414) - Page 2 of 7
Identification MIB
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1414 Identification MIB February 1993
1. The Network Management Framework
The Internet-standard Network Management Framework consists of three
components. They are:
STD 16/RFC 1155 [2] which defines the SMI, the mechanisms used for
describing and naming objects for the purpose of management. STD
16/RFC 1212 [3] defines a more concise description mechanism,
which is wholly consistent with the SMI.
STD 17/RFC 1213 [4] which defines MIB-II, the core set of managed
objects for the Internet suite of protocols.
STD 15/RFC 1157 [5] 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 [6] 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.
St. Johns & Rose