Introduction - Cisco GS7000 Installation And Configuration Manual

Chapter 4 Management Via SNMP

Introduction

SNMP is an ISO standard communication protocol often used by network and
element management systems to monitor network devices for both alarms and other
significant conditions.
SNMP accesses information about network devices through management
information base (MIB) objects. MIBs are hierarchical tree-structured descriptions
used to define database elements. SNMP is used to manage individual data elements
and the values assigned to MIB objects.
SNMP addresses a single MIB object using a numeric string called an object
identifier (OID). The OID defines a branching path through the hierarchy to the
location of the object. In addition to the OID, a MIB object is known by its object
descriptor. Both are unique to each MIB object.
Also defined for each MIB object is the access that SNMP can afford to the object
data value. For example, if a MIB object has read-write access, SNMP can be used to
both get (retrieve) and set (define or change) the value of the object. If an object is
read-only, SNMP can be used to get the object value, but not to change it.
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