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SmartSwitch ATM User Guide A-1
APPENDIX A AGENT SUPPORT
This appendix briefly describes the support provided for managing an ATM SmartSwitch using Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP).
A.1 MIB, SMI, MIB FILES AND INTERNET MIB
HIERARCHY
A MIB (Management Information Base) is the term used to represent a virtual store of management data on a device.
Given the structure of management data, it can be operated upon (retrieved, created or modified) using the SNMP
protocol. The structure of that data is defined using a subset of a notation called Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1).
This subset is called SMI (Structure of Management Information). A file containing the definition of that structure is
called a MIB file. To provide for a uniform naming convention for all MIBs, from all vendors, for all kinds of data, a
standard format is used. This format is a hierarchy and is termed the Internet MIB Hierarchy.
The MIB structure is logically represented by a tree hierarchy (see Figure A-1). The root of the tree is unnamed and
splits into three main branches: Consultative Committee for International Telegraph and Telephone (CCITT),
International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and joint ISO/CCITT.
These branches and those that fall below each category have short text strings and integers to identify them. Text
strings describe object names, while integers allow computer software to create compact, encoded representations of
the names. For example, the ZeitNet MIB variable znIpAtmClient is an object name and is also represented by the
number one.
An object identifier in the Internet MIB hierarchy is the sequence of numeric labels on the nodes along a path from the
root to the object. The object for the Internet Standard for MIB II is represented by the object identifier 1.3.6.1.2.1. It
also can be expressed as iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib (see Figure A-1).
Note For the authoritative reference on the concepts described in this section, refer to
RFCs 1901 through 1908.