HP SNMP/XL User's Guide (36922-90036)

16 Chapter1
Introduction to HP SNMP/XL
Concepts and Definitions
TCP. It also allows you to reset some of the internet protocol values. The
MIB actually outlines the set of objects (statistics and tables) that are
meaningful for each internet protocol it covers.
The MIB stores information needed to manage devices on a network. It
contains a list of network objects and their attributes, such as the
number of packets sent to a network interface, routing table entries,
and protocol-specific variables for IP routing. MIB I includes objects
dealing with IP internetworking routing variables. MIB II, now an
Internet standard, adds new objects to the MIB I groups and also adds
two new groups. The new groups add media devices and network
devices to the SNMP capabilities. See Appendix B , “Supported MIB
Objects,” for a list of supported MIB objects.
The MIB conforms to the encoding rules determined by the American
National Standards Institute. These rules are called Abstract Syntax
Notation One (ASN.1). ASN.1 is used:
• To define the formats of the PDUs (Protocol Data Unit) exchanged by
the management protocol.
• As a means of defining the managed objects.
These objects (Object Types) are given an object identifier (name),
syntax, definition, and access information.
Object Identifier (Name) Each object type has a unique name which
is called an Object Identifier. An Object Identifier is a sequence of
integers that lead you to a certain node in the MIB architecture. Object
Identifiers are organized in a hierarchical tree-like structure. Figure
1-1 shows the MIB architecture with some of the defined Object
Identifiers.
Figure 1-1 MIB Architecture