The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) provides a standard means for computers to share networking information.
There are two types of communicators in SNMP, 'agents' and 'managers'. Ascend products implement snmp 'agents' which provide networking information to 'manager' applications running on other computers. The 'manager' may be running on just about any kind of computer, and can range from a simple command-line utility to an automated GUI application.
The agents and managers agree beforehand on the layout of the database of the information to be shared. This layout is called the Management Information Base, or MIB. The MIB is structured as a tree - all SNMP variables are represented as branches from a single node. There are also special messages, called traps, that agents can use to send unsolicited information to the manager.
Security is implemented through a sniffable password, called the 'community name', that is sent with each request. Two community names are supported, one with read access, and the other with read/write access to the MIB.
The SNMP FAQ gives a quick overview of the protocol, and provides pointers to various manager applications. It can be found at:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/snmp-faq/faq.html
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/comp/protocols/snmp/comp.protocols.snmp_%5BSNMP%5D_Frequently_Asked_Questions_%28FAQ%29
and the usual other places.
The Ascend ftp site has a number of documents relating to SNMP. The first,
ftp://ftp.ascend.com/pub/Mib/ascend.mib
and
ftp://ftp.ascend.com/pub/Mib/ascend.trp
contain the definition of the ascend-specific MIB in a database language syntax (i.e. it's hard to read). Depending on the manager application, you can compile these files to a format that allows the manager to understand the ascend database format.
Another file,
ftp://ftp.ascend.com/pub/Doc/SNMP/SNMP.ps
or
ftp://ftp.ascend.com/pub/Doc/SNMP/SNMP.pdf
is a PostScript/Adobe Acrobat file that describes the MIBs supported by Ascend products. This include RFC-standard MIBs for accessing TCP/IP, DS1, RS232, and Frame Relay information, as well as an Ascend-specific MIB.
The standard MIBs contain a lot of useful information. For instance, the TCP/IP MIB (RFC1213) contains a table (ifTable) with data for the Ascend interfaces. For every port, it lists whether or not the port is active, the maximum data rate, how many bytes have entered/exited the port, and other information.
The Ascend MIB offers other goodies. The doGroup table has the same functionality as the 'do' command in the telnet interface. You can use this to dial or hang up interfaces, and to add/delete bonded calls. The hostStatus table has more detail than the ifTable on the status of the ports.
One thing to be aware of - not all Ascend products support the entire Ascend MIB. In particular, the Pipeline 50 does not support the doGroup and hostStatus tables. Following is a table of implemented ascend MIB groups on the P50, based on a 'walk' through the MIB tree.
Group MIB Pipeline 50
---------------------------------------
products ascend.1 No
slots ascend.2 Yes
hostTypes ascend.3 No
wanTypes ascend.4 No
lanTypes ascend.5 No
doGroup ascend.6 No
hostStatus ascend.7 No
console ascend.8 Yes
systemStatus ascend.9 No
ascendEvent ascend.10 No
callStatus ascend.11 No
sessionStatus ascend.12 No
There are two menus for configuring SNMP in the Ascend menu interface. SNMP
traps are defined under Ethernet->SNMP Traps. The SNMP community names are
defined under Ethernet->Mod Config->SNMP Options. Be sure to change the
'R/W Comm' value from its default (you will need higher privileges to do
this).[end overview by Dave Steele]
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