Polycom 3725-76302-001LI manual Snmp Versions Supported

DMA Operations Guide SNMP Overview

We recommend using a MIB browser to explore the PolycomDMA system MIB, but a copy of the MIB is available in “The Polycom DMA System MIB” on page 442. The DMA system MIB is self-documenting, including information about the purpose of specific traps and inform notifications.

Note that you should understand how your SNMP management system is configured in order to properly configure the DMA system’s SNMP transport protocol, version, authentication, and privacy settings.

See also:

“List of Available SNMP MIBs” on page 433 “SNMP Settings” on page 433

“SNMP Procedures” on page 441

“The Polycom DMA System MIB” on page 442

SNMP Versions Supported

The Polycom DMA system supports:

•SNMPv2c—The Polycom DMA system implements a sub-version of SNMPv2. The key advantage of SNMPv2c is the Inform command. Unlike Traps, Informs are messages sent to the management system that must be positively acknowledged with a response message. If the management system doesn’t reply to an Inform, the DMA system re-sends the Inform. SNMPv2c also has improved error handling.

One drawback of SNMPv2c is that it doesn’t encrypt communications between the management system and SNMP agents, so it’s subject to packet sniffing of the clear text community string from the network traffic.

•SNMPv3—The Polycom DMA system implements the newest version of SNMP. Its primary feature is enhanced security. The contextEngineID in SNMPv3 uniquely identifies each SNMP entity. The contextEngineID is used to generate the key for authenticated messages.

The Polycom DMA system implements SNMPv3 communication with authentication and privacy (the authPriv security level as defined in the USM MIB).

To implement this security level, you must define SNMP users to be added to the SNMP agent user list. Agents use this list to protect SNMPv3 packets from interception. Each user has a secret key to ensure authentication and privacy.

—Authentication ensures that only the intended recipient receives the SNMP message. As messages are created, they’re given a special key that’s based on the contextEngineID of the entity. The key is shared with the intended recipient and used to receive the message.

—Privacy encrypts the SNMP message to ensure that unauthorized users can’t read it.

432 Polycom, Inc.