Connectivity Guide
4. BIOS Variable Values — This section explains any Server Administrator-specific variables and data types that are used in this
section. In the BIOS group example, there are 17 unique, Server Administrator-specific variable meanings. Information on
each Server Administrator-specific variable is presented in a formatted table.
Other Documents You May Need
In addition to this guide, you can access the following guides available on the Dell Support website at dell.com/support/
manuals. On the Manuals page, click Software Systems Management. Click the appropriate product link on the right-side to
access the documents.
● The Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide lists the messages that you can receive on your systems management
console or on your operating system’s event viewer. This guide explains the text, severity, and cause of each message that
the server administrator issues.
● The Server Administrator CIM Reference Guide documents the Common Information Model (CIM) provider, an extension of
the standard management object format (MOF) file. The Server-Administrator CIM provider documents supported classes of
management objects.
● The Glossary provides information on the terms used in this document.
Introduction to the Server Administrator SNMP
Subagent
This guide provides formatted information drawn primarily from the MIB files written for the Server Administrator services that
support the SNMP protocol.
For each of the variables defined in the MIBs, the following fields are specified:
● Variable name
● OID or unique identifying number
● Description
● Data type of the variable (for example: integer, string, octet string)
● Whether the variable is accessible, not accessible, or read-only
● Index or indexes, if applicable
For each MIB group that has unique variable definitions, tables are included in the last section of the section to explain the
meaning of the terms.
Standards for writing MIBs are defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Structure of Management Information
(SMI) is a standard that specifies the rules for defining the structure and type of managed objects and events in a MIB. SMIv1 is
specified in Request For Comments (RFC) 1155. The Server Administrator MIB conforms to the SMIv1 standard.
SNMP is a systems management standard originally designed for network management. SNMP manages much more than
networks. Information Technology (IT) professionals use SNMP for monitoring and managing computer systems and the various
components and peripherals supported by their systems.
SNMP standards are defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). SNMP version 1 was published in August 1988 and
is the most commonly supported version of SNMP. SNMP version 2 was first published in May 1993, but has not gained
widespread market acceptance. SNMP version 3 was recently completed and has addressed security issues that exist in version
1.
All SNMP systems consist of one or more managed systems that provide data through an SNMP agent to a management
system. The management system provides a user interface to view data from the managed systems. The management system
and managed systems communicate over a network (typically through User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol [UDP/IP]).
The management system and a managed system communicate by means of a common data schema. SNMP MIB files define the
structure, type, and values of the SNMP data. While MIBs can be standardized or enterprise specific, most operating systems
supply SNMP agents for the standard MIB-I and MIB-II schemas. MIB-I defines a base set of standard management information
for systems implementing the Internet Protocol (IP) suite. MIB-II defines characteristics of the system, characteristics of
network interfaces, and characteristics of components of the IP on the system. In addition to the standard MIBs, many
hardware vendors have defined MIBs that provide management data specific to their systems and peripheral devices.
Monitored data can be retrieved through SNMP using the Get command. Typically, this command requires the host name or IP
address of the target machine as well as the OID of the data to retrieve. Exact details are dependent on the operating system
and the development tools being used to create the management application. The Get command has a variant known as
GetNext.
Introduction
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