B-10 APPENDIX B: REMOTE MONITORING (RMON) TECHNOLOGY

MIB Objects The data in the MIB consists of objects that represent features of the equipment that an agent can control and manage. Examples of objects in the MIB include a port that you can enable or disable and a counter that you can read.

A counter is a common type of MIB object used by RMON. A counter object might record the number of frames transmitted onto the network. The MIB might contain an entry for the counter object something like the one in Figure B-3for the counter object.

etherStatsPkts OBJECT-TYPE

SYNTAX Counter ACCESS read-only

STATUS mandatory

DESCRIPTION

This is a total number of packets received, including bad packets, broadcast packets, and multicast packets.

::= { etherStatsEntry 5 }

Figure B-3 Example of an RMON MIB Counter Object

The displayed information includes these items:

The formal name of the counter is etherStatsPkts (Ethernet, Statistics, Packets.)

The access is read-only.

The number of the counter’s column in the table: 5.

The name of the table in which the counter resides is 3CometherStatTable, although this name does not appear in the display.

You do not need to know the contents of every MIB object to manage a network. Most network management applications, including Transcend Enterprise Manager Software, make the MIB transparent. However, knowing how different management features are derived from the MIB allows you to better understand how to use the information that they provide.

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3Com 10002211 manual Figure B-3 Example of an Rmon MIB Counter Object