Management Information Base (Mib) Overview - Cisco 11503 - CSS Content Services Switch Administration Manual

Chapter 5 Configuring Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Management Information Base (MIB) Overview

Management Information Base (MIB) Overview
SNMP obtains information from the network through a Management Information
Base (MIB). The MIB is a database of code blocks called MIB objects. Each MIB
object controls one specific function, such as counting how many bytes are
transmitted through an agent's port. The MIB object comprises MIB variables,
which define the MIB object name, description, default value, and so forth.
The collection of MIB objects is structured hierarchically. The MIB hierarchy is
referred to as the MIB tree. The MIB tree is defined by the International Standards
Organization (ISO). The MIB is installed on the SNMP manager and is present
within each agent in the SNMP network.
At the top of the tree is the broadest information about a network. Each branch
and sub-branch of the tree gets progressively more specific, and the lowest
branches of the tree contain the most specific MIB objects; the leaves contain the
actual data. Figure 5-2 shows an example of how the MIB tree objects become
more specific as the tree expands.
There are two versions of the MIB tree as defined by ISO: MIB-I and MIB-II.
Note
MIB-II has more variables than MIB-I. Refer to the MIB-II standard in RFC 1213,
"Management Information Base for Network Management of TCP/IP-based
Internets: MIB-II."
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