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Catalyst 2960 and 2960-S Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 30 Configuring SNMP
Understanding SNMP
Figure 30-1 SNMP Network
For information on supported MIBs and how to access them, see Appendix B, “Supported MIBs.”
SNMP Notifications
SNMP allows the switch to send notifications to SNMP managers when particular events occur. SNMP
notifications can be sent as traps or inform requests. In command syntax, unless the re is an option in the
command to select either traps or informs, the keyword traps refers to either traps or informs, or both.
Use the snmp-server host command to specify whether to send SNMP notifications as traps or informs.
Note SNMPv1 does not support informs.
Traps are unreliable because the receiver does not send an acknowledgment when it receives a trap, and
the sender cannot determine if the trap was received. When an SNMP manager receives an inform
request, it acknowledges the message with an SNMP response protocol data unit (PDU). If the sender
does not receive a response, the inform request can be sent again. Because they can be re-sent, informs
are more likely than traps to reach their intended destination.
The characteristics that make informs more reliable than traps also consume more resources in the switch
and in the network. Unlike a trap, which is discar ded as soon as it is sent, an inform request is hel d in
memory until a response is received or the request times out. Traps are sent only once, but an inform
might be re-sent or retried several times. The retries increase traffic and contribute to a higher overhead
on the network. Therefore, traps and informs require a trade-off between reliability and resources. If it
is important that the SNMP manager receive every notification, use inform requests. If traffic on the
network or memory in the switch is a concern and notification is not required, use traps.
SNMP ifIndex MIB Object Values
In an NMS, the IF-MIB generates and assigns an interface index (ifIndex) object value that is a unique
number greater than zero to identify a physical or a logical interface. When the switch rebo ots or the
switch software is upgraded, the switch uses this same value for the interface. For example, if the switch
assigns a port 2 an ifIndex value of 10003, this value is the same after the switch reboots.
The switch uses one of the values in Table 30 -3 to assign an ifIndex value to an interface:
Get-request, Get-next-request,
Get-bulk, Set-request
Network device
Get-response, traps
43581
SNMP Manager
NMS
MIB
SNMP Agent
Table 30-3 ifIndex Values
Interface Type ifIndex Range
SVI11–4999
EtherChannel 5000–5012
Loopback 5013–5077