Sidewinder G2 6.1.1 Administration Guide - Glossary of Technical ...

14
SNMP and Sidewinder G2
Figure 14-1. Managing
distributed systems
using SNMP
14-2 Configuring the SNMP Agent
SNMP basics
A network that is managed using SNMP involves two primary
components: a manager (management station) and a number of
managed nodes. The management station is typically a PC or UNIX
workstation running network management software such as Hewlett-
Packard’s OpenView ® Windows or Novell ManageWise. Managed
nodes are networking devices such as routers or Sidewinder G2s that
contain an SNMP agent. Figure 14-1 shows a management station
communicating with SNMP nodes to obtain network configuration
information.
SNMP
Management
Station
Sidewinder G2
(managed
node)
R
router
(managed node)
server
(managed node)
The management station displays a graphical representation of a
network’s topology through a Windows-based environment. In
general, network managers can monitor each SNMP node (including
the Sidewinder G2) by clicking on an icon representing each node in
the network’s topology.
A management station in the internal or external network can request
information from a managed node’s SNMP agent. The SNMP
management station sends a managed node Get and GetNext SNMP
messages to retrieve node-specific parameters and variables, called
objects. The message response from the managed system provides the
SNMP administrator with information on a node’s device names,
status, network connections, etc.
Important: SNMPv1 agents typically allow Get, GetNext, and Set requests from the
management station. However, the Sidewinder G2 SNMPv1 agent does not support Set
requests. This prevents a management system from sending commands to change
variables or parameters in the Sidewinder G2.