QUESTION TWO

a. Explain two ways in which a network management system may be characterized as

integrated.                                            [6 Marks]

Networking integration combines different hardware and software components into an

integrated network system. System integration and systems operation activities include
design, development, implementation, and maintenance. network system integrators follow
standards established by organizations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Hardware
acquisition requires an analysis of the network operating systems (NOS) and applications that
will be used.

Two ways in which a network management system may be characterized as integrated

 A single operator interface with a powerful but user-friendly set of commands for
performing most or all network management tasks.
 A minimal amount of separate equipment. That is, most of the hardware and software
required for network management is incorporated into the existing user equipment.

b. State the purpose of the MIB in network management.                           [4 Marks]

Management Information Base

In a network management system the third part of the architecture is the information that is
exchanged between the manager and the agent; this is called as Management Information
Base or MIB. This information is a collection of objects or data values. Each of which
represents one aspect of the managed device. For example, the location of the device and the
number of erred seconds in the last hour would be two different data values in the MIB. The
structure and content of the MIB are standardized across systems of a particular class, such as
a bridge MIB or DS-3 MIB. After a MIB is published as a standard, various vendors can
build the same kind of equipment that complies with the MIB and be assured that they can be
managed in a
TCP/IP network.

c. With the aid of a diagram, explain the key elements of SNMP.                    [10 Marks]

SNMP is an application-layer protocol that facilitates the exchange of management

information between network devices. It is part of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP) suite. SNMP enables network administrators to manage network
performance, find and solve network problems, and plan for network growth. SNMP plays an
important role in managing networks. It helps provide a uniform Interface to access and
manage all network devices.

SNMP is based on the manager/agent model consisting of a manager, an agent, a database of

management information, managed objects and the network protocol. The manager provides
the interface between the human network manager and the management system. The agent
provides the interface between the manager and the physical device(s) being managed, such
as bridges, hubs, routers or network servers. These managed objects might be hardware,
configuration parameters, performance statistics, and so on… These objects are arranged in
what is known as a virtual information database, called a Management Information Base,
MIB. SNMP allows managers and agents to communicate for the purpose of accessing these
objects.

SNMP allows managers and agents to communicate for the purpose of accessing these
objects. This is shown in the figure 2.1

Managed device: A network node that contains an SNMP agent and resides on a managed
network. Managed devices collect and store management information and make this
information available to the NMS using SNMP. Managed devices, sometimes called network
elements, A network node that contains an SNMP agent and resides on a managed network.
Managed devices collect and store management information and make this information
available to the NMS using SNMP. Managed devices, sometimes called Can be routers and
access servers, switches and bridges, hubs, computer hosts, and printers.

Agent: A network management software module that resides in a managed device. An agent
has local knowledge of management information and translates that information into a form
compatible with SNMP.

MIBs. The information that is exchanged between the manager and the agent is called the
management information base or MIB. This information is a collection of objects or data
values. The MIB structure is standardized in SNMP as a hierarchical tree. Additions to the
tree can be easily accomplished, and traversing a tree to obtain specific information can be
done very quickly. The agent provides a standard access to the MIB.

NMS: Network-management systems Executes applications that monitor and control

managed devices. The NMS provides the bulk of the processing and memory resources
required for network management. One or more NMSs must exist on any managed network.

Network management protocol: The SNMP protocol is used to for conveying information
and commands between agents and managing entities. SNMP uses the User Datagram
Protocol (UDP) as the transport protocol for passing data between managers and agents. The
reasons for using UDP for SNMP are, firstly it has low overheads in comparison to TCP,
which uses a 3-way hand shake for connection. Secondly, in congested networks, SNMP over
TCP is a bad idea because TCP in order to maintain reliability will flood the network with
retransmissions.

d. SNMP uses two different port numbers (UDP ports 161 and 162), a single system can
easily run both a manager and an agent. What would happen if the same port number
were used for both?  

 UDP is a connectionless protocol that allows data to be exchanged without setting up a

link between processes.  This protocol does not guarantee reliable communication
because it assumes that error-checking and recovery services are not required. UDP may
not have all the functionality of TCP but it’s faster and this makes it actually better for
some applications          

 The SNMP manager at the head of your system sends commands down to a network
device, or SNMP agent, using destination port 161.

 When the agent wants to report something or respond to a command, the agent will
send an SNMP trap on port 162 to the SNMP manager. 
To sum up, SNMP uses the UDP port 161 of the SNMP Agent for sending and receiving
requests, and port 162 of the SNMP Manager for receiving traps from managed
devices. If the same port were used for both traps and requests, separating the manager
from the agent in the same system would be difficult.