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 All information current as of 01:09:46 Pacific Time, Tuesday, 22 February 2005.

Understanding SNMP MIBs

   by David T. Perkins / Evan McGinnis

  Textbook Binding:
    Prentice Hall PTR
    03 December, 1996

   US$74.00   

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Editorial description(s):

Book News, Inc.
Offers a functional view of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)- based management, emphasizing the aspects that relate directly to MIBs (Management Information Base). Topics include modeling and development, relationships between objects, textual conventions, domains and control fields, versions and migration, nested tables and multi-table relationships, linked lists, multidimensional arrays, and floating point numbers. The accompanying CD contains sample MIBs, the MIB compiler SMICng and, a translation program to generate HTML from MIBs. -- Copyright © 1999 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR All rights reserved


Book Info
Provides a general introduction to such key concepts as: modeling and development, textual conventions, domains and control fields, and versions and migration. CD ROM included.


The publisher, Prentice-Hall ECS Professional
The first complete, practical insider's guide to writing SNMP MIBs. With this book, network professionals can learn how to design, define, write and update useful SNMP Management Information Bases (MIBs) that support standards-based network management. The book introduces SNMP MIBs -- documents that contain definitions of management information which allow systems to be remotely monitored, configured and controlled. Next, it presents a model of an SNMP-based management network and defines the SNMP management framework. Readers will walk through the construction of MIBs, including name space organization, MIB naming, maintenance, object semantics and object style, and other topics. Advanced techniques are presented, including tables within tables, multi-table relationships and linked lists. Readers learn how to analyze standard MIBs. Front-end and back-end MIB compilers are discussed, including SMIC, NetView/6000 SunNet Manager and HP OpenView. The book also includes a guide to MIB developer's resources.


From the Inside Flap
The Berkeley California philosopher Ashleigh Brilliant once wrote, "The world is controlled by a small, evil group to which no one I know belongs." If it seems that the rules and subtleties of writing an SNMP MIB are controlled by the same secretive group, you're not alone. Until now there has been little guidance provided on how to write, read, and use MIBs.

In a nutshell, MIBs are specifications containing definitions of management information so that network systems can be remotely monitored, configured, and controlled.

The standards bodies involved have formal documents that state the set of rules which must be followed in writing MIBs. The rules are written in an adapted sub-set of an obsolete version of a specification language called Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1). These documents are almost unreadable, since the ASN.1 language is intended more for machine processing than human comprehension. Also, no one has yet provided a style guide for MIB writers, or an answer book for MIB readers. The unfortunate result has been that understanding MIBs often comes down to learning the oral folklore, or worse, reading the endless stream of email on a large number of IETF mailing lists. Unfortunately, much of this email and other information made available on the Internet is not quite correct.

As a result, many MIB writers end up reinventing the wheel, using conflicting techniques, simply because the authors didn't know about a precedent in another MIB, or writing incorrect MIBs. Thus, understanding MIBs requires careful and detailed reading to determine the intent of the author.

There has been enormous growth in recent years in the development of SNMP-based management stations, as well as a flood of MIBs from both vendors and international standards bodies. These MIBs are the language of network and applications management.

Whether you are a network manager trying to manage devices from numerous vendors, a test engineer putting together a test plan, or a product manager writing a data sheet, it may indeed seem as if all MIBs were written by a small, evil group of which you're not a part. If you are going to be involved with network management anywhere along the chain, understanding MIBs is quickly becoming a requirement. Whether you are a designer or user of MIBs, this book was written so you, too, can get some real work done, and not waste time learning the initiation rites of this small, evil group.

The Scope Of This Book

There are a number of excellent books already in print that attempt to provide an overview of the entire Network Management universe; there are also several excellent texts specifically focusing on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) in all of its deceiving simplicity.

This book is different, in that it focuses on the key aspects of SNMP-based management that you must know to allow you to first, read and understand existing MIBs, and then (if you are so inclined) design, define, and write useful, compliant MIBs for your own devices or applications.

The process of understanding MIBs is often confused with understanding the protocol. Naturally, the two are related, but understanding a MIB doesn't require that you have detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the protocol. Its definition and operation are fixed and can be treated as a "black box." Understanding MIBs requires only a high level understanding and not in-depth knowledge of the protocol. This book gives you enough of an introduction to SNMP that you can understand what will be going on with the protocol, and how it relates to good MIB design.

Also confused with writing a MIB are the tasks of writing the code that makes available, or uses, specific instances of management information defined in a MIB. These are separate tasks, which may be performed by the same individual. This book i ntroduces the concepts needed for development of an agent or management application, but is not a tutorial on these tasks. That information is provided by vendors of agent and management application development systems.

A summary of all the elements of SNMP is provided as appendices so you will have one reference source for what you need to know to do useful work.

Who Should Read This Book

This book was written with three main audience groups in mind:
-- Network administrators (and end-users), who cannot change the network information that is available to them, but would like to be able to read and understand the manageable aspects of their network.
-- Personnel of network component vendors (which includes agent and application developers, test engineers, and product managers), who must be able to define and create software based on the management aspects specified in existing MIBs, create new MIB specifications for management elements that have not yet been standardized, test that the implementations are compliant, and find creative ways to differentiate products that are based on standardized specifications.
-- Students, who can use this book to complement introductory texts on SNMP, or as the primary source in a project-oriented class to apply network management.

Our Credo

This book contains facts, our experiences, and our beliefs tempered by the comments of our reviewers. A primary result of our experiences in network management is the following belief, which we call the Fundamental Axiom of Technology, and is our credo.

The impact of learning about a technology must be minimal, and must not stand in the way of applying the technology.

We believe the burden of communicating the concepts and applications of a technology should be on the creators and proponents of the technology and not on the users of the technology. Please let us know how we did after you have read the book.


From the Back Cover


MIBs demystified

In the past, understanding MIBs has mostly been a case of picking up the oral folklore or reading endless streams of E-mail on a lot of IETF mailing lists. In this book, David Perkins and Evan McGinnis part the swirling clouds of confusion to offer up the crucial concepts you need to read and interpret a MIB, and maybe even write one.

The authors offer a functional view of SNMP-based management, emphasizing the aspects that relate directly to MIBs. Without going into all the particulars of SNMP, Understanding SNMP MIBs provides a general introduction to such key concepts as:

Interwoven with this material is a structural view of MIBs, starting with the basic syntax and specifications of MIB modules, and moving on to sophisticated discussions of advanced data structures and data types, including:

Network administrators will find this a handy guide to the manageable aspects of their network, while developers, engineers, and product managers will discover a simplified approach to creating MIBs with the end-user in mind, while adhering to the international MIB standards. For students, this book is a valuable complement to the study of SNMP and network management. Even if you never need to create a MIB of your own, Understanding SNMP MIBs will be an invaluable aid for interpreting and selecting them in your daily work.

The accompanying CD contains numerous sample MIBs with their RFC's, along with two great original applications: the MIB compiler SMICng and a translation program to generate HTML from MIBs. Supported platforms include Windows® 95, Windows NT, SunOS®, Solaris®, HP-UX™, Linux, IBM's AIX, and SGI.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Berkeley California philosopher Ashleigh Brilliant once wrote, “The world is controlled by a small, evil group to which no one I know belongs.” If it seems that the rules and subtleties of writing an SNMP MIB are controlled by the same secretive group, you're not alone. Until now there has been little guidance provided on how to write, read, and use MIBs.

In a nutshell, MIBs are specifications containing definitions of management information so that network systems can be remotely monitored, configured, and controlled.

The standards bodies involved have formal documents that state the set of rules which must be followed in writing MIBs. The rules are written in an adapted sub-set of an obsolete version of a specification language called Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1). These documents are almost unreadable, since the ASN.1 language is intended more for machine processing than human comprehension. Also, no one has yet provided a style guide for MIB writers, or an answer book for MIB readers. The unfortunate result has been that understanding MIBs often comes down to learning the oral folklore, or worse, reading the endless stream of email on a large number of IETF mailing lists. Unfortunately, much of this email and other information made available on the Internet is not quite correct.

As a result, many MIB writers end up reinventing the wheel, using conflicting techniques, simply because the authors didn't know about a precedent in another MIB, or writing incorrect MIBs. Thus, understanding MIBs requires careful and detailed reading to determine the intent of the author.

There has been enormous growth in recent years in the development of SNMP-based management stations, as well as a flood of MIBs from both vendors and international standards bodies. These MIBs are the language of network and applications management.

Whether you are a network manager trying to manage devices from numerous vendors, a test engineer putting together a test plan, or a product manager writing a data sheet, it may indeed seem as if all MIBs were written by a small, evil group of which you're not a part. If you are going to be involved with network management anywhere along the chain, understanding MIBs is quickly becoming a requirement. Whether you are a designer or user of MIBs, this book was written so you, too, can get some real work done, and not waste time learning the initiation rites of this small, evil group.

The Scope Of This Book

There are a number of excellent books already in print that attempt to provide an overview of the entire Network Management universe; there are also several excellent texts specifically focusing on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) in all of its deceiving simplicity.

This book is different, in that it focuses on the key aspects of SNMP-based management that you must know to allow you to first, read and understand existing MIBs, and then (if you are so inclined) design, define, and write useful, compliant MIBs for your own devices or applications.

The process of understanding MIBs is often confused with understanding the protocol. Naturally, the two are related, but understanding a MIB doesn't require that you have detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the protocol. Its definition and operation are fixed and can be treated as a “black box.” Understanding MIBs requires only a high level understanding and not in-depth knowledge of the protocol. This book gives you enough of an introduction to SNMP that you can understand what will be going on with the protocol, and how it relates to good MIB design.

Also confused with writing a MIB are the tasks of writing the code that makes available, or uses, specific instances of management information defined in a MIB. These are separate tasks, which m ay be performed by the same individual. This book introduces the concepts needed for development of an agent or management application, but is not a tutorial on these tasks. That information is provided by vendors of agent and management application development systems.

A summary of all the elements of SNMP is provided as appendices so you will have one reference source for what you need to know to do useful work.

Who Should Read This Book

This book was written with three main audience groups in mind:
-- Network administrators (and end-users), who cannot change the network information that is available to them, but would like to be able to read and understand the manageable aspects of their network.
-- Personnel of network component vendors (which includes agent and application developers, test engineers, and product managers), who must be able to define and create software based on the management aspects specified in existing MIBs, create new MIB specifications for management elements that have not yet been standardized, test that the implementations are compliant, and find creative ways to differentiate products that are based on standardized specifications.
-- Students, who can use this book to complement introductory texts on SNMP, or as the primary source in a project-oriented class to apply network management.

Our Credo

This book contains facts, our experiences, and our beliefs tempered by the comments of our reviewers. A primary result of our experiences in network management is the following belief, which we call the Fundamental Axiom of Technology, and is our credo.

The impact of learning about a technology must be minimal, and must not stand in the way of applying the technology.

We believe the burden of communicating the concepts and applications of a technology should be on the creators and proponents of the technology and not on the users of the technology. Please let us know how we did after you have read the book.


Reader review(s):

excellent guide & reference for experienced SNMP developers, July 9, 1999
This book is for experienced SNMP developers but could be very useful even for a novice willing to spend some time to understand SNMP in-depth.

This is the best SNMP book I've read and it is an outstanding addition to SNMP RFCS, not just a copy from RFCs as some other SNMP books.

Superb book !, June 15, 1999
This is simply one of the best books I've come across in any field. If you want to write your own mibs, or if you are writing an snmp agent, this book is invaluable. Very lucid, very neat illustrations. I highly recommend it. Yes, you do need some network management exposure to get the best out of this book.

Worth the Money, January 23, 2000
I have read and reviewed most of these SNMP books. In general, they are not very good. This one is EXCELLENT. However, it is definitely for people developing mibs and not somebody looking to understand how SNMP works. It is a resource as an SNMP developer I could not live without.

You better know SNMP before you read this book., September 22, 1998
I've been working with networks for almost a year now, a relative new comer to the field. However, I'm a degreed engineer from a pretty good school, and I've worked as an engineer for over six years. This book is for people who have worked with SNMP extensively for a number of years. This is definitely not an intro book, nor is it for anybody who just wants to gain a basic understanding of SNMP. I was lost after the second chapter.

NOT for Beginners!, May 8, 2002
I have read a pretty good portion of this book, but I just can't continue.

My task at work is to learn about SNMP and start monitoring our equipment. This is a simple task that should be fairly straightforward. Unfortunately, I haven't found any two resources that can even agree on the definition of a MIB. Not even this book, one that's dedicated to MIBs, has helped me out.

If you're looking for a good beginner's guide, don't waste your money on this book. If you don't know where to begin to compile MIBs, don't buy this book. Unless you deeply understand SNMP and are to the point where you feel you have to write MIBs, don't buy this book. You'll be sadly disappointed.

I'm sure this is a wonderful book for the right audience, and I respect the authors for their technical abilities. My problem is not with the book, but with the way the book is marketed within the SNMP community.

Excellent! Nothing better., February 6, 2002
I found this book to be excellent in helping me write my own SNMP MIBs for my job. No other reference or book was even close.

The book focuses on explaining SNMP MIBs and their syntax. This is extremely important, because the SNMP MIB syntax, while standardized by the IETF RFCs, is not followed strictly by vendors (probably because they didn't have this book).

The strength of this book is that it provides PRACTICAL information on making your own MIBs. Whereas books like Stalling's SNMP book cover the standard, they don't always give you the practical day-to-day help for your job. The authors experience in SNMP MIBs is geniuine as evidenced by their development of a commercial MIB compiler.

Now the negatives:
1) This book was published in 1997 and needs updating
2) Book plugs the author's own MIB compiler. These days other
MIB compilers are available. Nice to have it included on the CDROM
3) Authors periodically express their "Own Opinion" regarding RFCs and make their recommendations. While these are interesting, I don't find them useful. For example, recommending disallowing hypens from labels from v1 to v2. At this point, the standard is the standard. Again, these may have made more sense in 1997.

In summary, buy this book if you are a need to understand MIBs - either a MIB writer or an SNMP developer.

MIBS under the Microscope, May 8, 2000
I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs to understand the structure of the SNMP Management Information Base. This book takes them apart and puts them back together. With often irreverant comments, the information presented will help those who work with mibs and agents on a daily basis to fully comprehend the purpose and structures.

WARNING! Limited version of MIB compiler software, April 2, 2000
The SMICng MIB compiler version on the CD is the "book" version and is very limited in its options. Unfortunately the documentation in the book shows all the options for the unlimited "Pro" ($490) version! I was disappointed because the MIB compiler was the main reason I purchased the book!

This book did not help me much, November 10, 2001
I disagree with most of the reviews on this book. I was tasked with writing a MIB and this book did not do much for me. For instance, the IMPORTS clause, standard in any MIB. The author only gave a brief defenition of what it is, no examples, no explination of WHY one imports something! A MIB you write will not compile or work without a proper IMPORT clause.

Reading this book takes great effort. Not an easy reas at all and I have been working with SNMP for 5 years and am a Certified OpenView Consultant, and have been for 3 years. There are part of this book that are helpful, but if you are going to be writing a MIB for the first time do not count on this book to help you get it done. Try Total SNMP, which gived a better breakdown and look at some of the MIBs already out there like the UPS MIB.

Probably the best Book for Understanding and Designing MIBs, April 10, 2001
The book "Understanding SNMP MIBs" introduces the reader to the Management Information Base (the MIB) used to describe data managed through the SNMP protocol. The book covers the basic ideas behind SNMP and the operations supported by SNMP, but the major part of the text really focuses on the syntax and the structure of the information base and on defining and maintaining MIBs.

The book does a wonderful job in covering all the related aspects around MIBs. It gives a very good introduction to SNMP (yes, it is brief, but it is much easier to read than some of the texts that focus on SNMP) it gives a detailed description of the MIB syntax and on how to define, build and maintain MIBs. The task of designing and implementing a MIB is illustrated from different points of views. In one chapter, the practical considerations in building MIBs are laid out, e.g. v1 vs. v2, module naming and module layout, in another chapter, the authors lead the readers through the definition process of the MIBs for a hypothetical company with a small product. I addition an analysis of some standard MIBs and the techniques applied in these is included. The whole book is written very well and is in fact very understandable and clear. A lot of critical points in SNMP and the structure of MIBs are explained and commented (although some of the comments are not really constructive).

There are only a few minor points that I did not like about this text. a) Some of the illustrations are just plain horrible, b) the chapter ordering is a little weird: SNMP intro, MIB syntax, SNMP operations, MIB design, MIB browser, MIB design example (but maybe that's just me?) and c) where is the 2nd edition including v3?

Overall, this is a very helpful book. The material is very well presented and really helps to understand SNMP MIBs.
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