Network Management Protocols and Tools Study E-Book

Thomas Kramer

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2002

Beschreibung

Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject Computer Science - Technical Computer Science, grade: 1,7 (A-), UNITEC New Zealand (Information Systems), course: Course Enterprise Networks and Management, language: English, abstract: The report covers the evaluation of the network management protocols SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and CMIP (Common Management Information Protocol). The history of the network management protocol is explained in the beginning to set the base for an understanding of the need for efficient network management protocols, which carry management information in their payload. The description and thorough comparison of the two protocols reveal several highlights: SNMP and CMIP are designed with different backgrounds and purposes. SNMP is appreciated due to its simplicity and ease of implementation and criticized for its lack of security issues and overall performance. CMIP was designed to overcome the shortcomings of SNMP and to outweigh it in every field. This aim has been achieved but what renders the protocol useless is the fact that it requires too much network resources. SNMP remains the network management protocol of choice. After the presentation of the two protocols the attention is drawn to the impact of middleware on the management processes. Middleware can be considered as a layer of software that supports multiple communication protocols, multiple programming languages, and runs on various computer platforms. It helps to integrate otherwise incompatible system components by providing standardized mechanisms that distributed components can use to communicate over a network. With middleware the best of both worlds (SNMP versus CMIP) can be achieved. The most important middleware technologies are the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). Although middleware eats up network resources significantly, it adds value to the corporative network due to its high performance and standardized interfaces that enable managers to employ network devices with the focus on the gained benefit rather than on their potential integration in the current network environment. One can see that network management, supported by middleware, moves towards the coverage of all layers in the OSI reference model.

Leseprobe

Table of Content

1 NETWORK MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS.

1.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF SMNP AND CMIP

1.2.1 SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

1.2.1.1 SNMP at a glance.

1.2.1.1.1 History of the network management protocol.

1.2.1.1.2 About the protocol

1.2.1.2 SNMP Architecture

1.2.2 CMIP (Common Management Information Protocol)

1.2.2.1 CMIP at a glance

1.2.2.2 CMIP architecture.

1.3 SNMP VERSUS CMIP - COMPARISON

1.3.1 Management Information System

1.3.1.1 MIB Structure.

1.3.1.1.1 SNMP MIB

1.3.1.1.2 CMIP MIB

1.3.1.2 Object Naming.

1.3.1.3 Syntax.

1.3.1.4 Structure of Management Information.

1.3.1.5 Feature Comparison.

1.3.2 Management Access Model

1.3.3 Scalability.

1.3.4 Performance

1.3.5 Reliability.

1.3.6 Security

1.4 ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE MIDDLEWARE.

1.4.1 CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture)

1.4.2 DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model)

2 CRITIQUE OF VARIOUS NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOLS

2.1 SELECTION OF SUITABLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS

2.1.1 Network Management Tools

2.1.1.1 Diagnostic Tools

2.1.1.2 Monitoring Tools

2.1.1.3 Management Tools.

2.1.2 Network Management Solutions

2.1.2.1 Novell ManageWise.

2.1.2.2 Hewlett Packard OpenView.

2.1.2.3 IBM (Tivoli) NetView

2.2 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION BASE (MIB)

2.3 EVALUATION OF COMMERCIAL TOOLS FOR NETWORK MANAGEMENT

2.3.1 Sniffer.

2.3.2 Ping.

2.3.3 Traceroute

2.3.4 Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG)

2.3.5 Fluke LANMeter

3 REFERENCES

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- 1 -1Network Management Protocols

1.1 Executive Summary

The report covers the evaluation of the network management protocols SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and CMIP (Common Management Information Protocol). The history of the network management protocol is explained in the beginning to set the base for an understanding of the need for efficient network management protocols, which carry management information in their payload. The description and thorough comparison of the two protocols reveal several highlights: SNMP and CMIP are designed with different backgrounds and purposes. SNMP is appreciated due to its simplicity and ease of implementation and criticized for its lack of security issues and overall performance. CMIP was designed to overcome the shortcomings of SNMP and to outweigh it in every field. This aim has been achieved but what renders the protocol useless is the fact that it requires too much network resources. SNMP remains the network management protocol of choice.

After the presentation of the two protocols the attention is drawn to the impact of middleware on the management processes. Middleware can be considered as a layer of software that supports multiple communication protocols, multiple programming languages, and runs on various computer platforms. It helps to integrate otherwise incompatible system components by providing standardized mechanisms that distributed components can use to communicate over a network. With middleware the best of both worlds (SNMP versus CMIP) can be achieved. The most important middleware technologies are the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). Although middleware eats up network resources significantly, it adds value to the corporative network due to its high performance and standardized interfaces that enable managers to employ network devices with the focus on the gained benefit rather than on their potential integration in the current network environment. One can see that network management, supported by middleware, moves towards the coverage of all layers in the OSI reference model.