2. The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework

The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework consists of four major components. They are:

• RFC 1442(-> 1902(-> 2578^std58)) [1] which defines the SMI, the mechanisms used for describing and naming objects for the purpose of management.
• STD 17, RFC 1213^std17 [2] defines MIB-II, the core set of managed objects for the Internet suite of protocols.
• RFC 1445^hist [3] which defines the administrative and other architectural aspects of the framework.
• RFC 1448(-> 1905(-> 3416^std62)) [4] which defines the protocol used for network access to managed objects.

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

2.1. Object Definitions

Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed the Management Information Base or MIB. Objects in the MIB are defined using the subset of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) defined in the SMI. In particular, each object object type is named by an OBJECT IDENTIFIER, an administratively assigned name. 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 descriptor, to refer to the object type.