In-depth exploration of Linux SNMP-Managed Devices

You may have heard about "Linux SNMP management devices", "Linux SNMP-compatible devices", or "Linux SNMP-managed devices. But what exactly are they? How are they different from smart devices?

Simply put, all the above statements mean "a network device that includes the network management proxy ". These also mean that the proxy supports the Linux SNMP protocol for information exchange. As mentioned above, a smart device may not need to use or support the Linux SNMP protocol. So what is a proxy?

Proxy

Management agent) is a special software or firmware. It contains information about a special device and/or the environment where the device is located. When a proxy is installed on a device, the above devices are listed as "managed ". In other words, a proxy is a database.

The data contained in the database varies with the installed device. For example, on a vro, the proxy will contain information about the route selection table, the total number of received and sent packets, and so on. For a bridge, the database may contain information about the number of forwarding packets and the filtering table.

A proxy is a software or firmware that communicates with the network management console. You can perform the following tasks on the "Link" of the console:

● The network management workstation can obtain information about the device from the agent.
● The network management workstation can modify, add, or delete table items in the proxy, for example, selecting table items for routes in the database maintained by the proxy.
● The network management workstation can set a threshold for a specific self-trap.
● It can send self-traps to the network management workstation.

Remember that the agent in the managed device does not provide information voluntarily unless there is an event when the threshold is exceeded.

In some accidental circumstances, a specific device may be missing due to system resources, or because the device does not support the transport protocol required by the Linux SNMP agent, but cannot implement a Linux SNMP proxy. Does this mean you cannot monitor this device? This is not the case. In this case, there is no way at all. You can use the trusted proxy agent), which is equivalent to the external device foreign device ).

The trusted proxy does not run on managed external devices, but on another device. The network management workstation first contacts the Trusted agent and points out that the consistency between the Trusted agent and external devices is achieved through some method. Then the delegate translates the protocol commands it receives into the management protocols supported by any external device. In this case, the trusted proxy is called the application gateway ).

If an external device does not support any management protocols, the delegated agent must use some passive methods to monitor the device. For example, a trusted proxy of a ring bridge can monitor its performance and generate self-traps if it detects any congestion errors reported by the bridge.

Fortunately, most Internet devices currently support Linux SNMP management devices, so you can easily use a Linux SNMP to manage devices, such as hubs, bridges, and routers. Some vendors even provide Linux SNMP agents on their NICs.