14 Monitoring Printers

Implementing Printer Management

Printer management includes the following tasks:

•Monitoring the status of network printers

•Responding to alarms

•Gathering statistics on printer operations

The three elements of network printer monitoring and management are:

•Agent/manager model

•The management information database (MIB)

•SNMP, the protocol used to get management information

Agent/Manager Model

The elements of a monitoring system, MIB and SNMP, are implemented in an agent/manager model:

•The MANAGER is a console, workstation, or server on working hubs or routers which has a global knowledge of NICs and printers.

•AGENTS are utilities that reside on devices, such as a NIC, that respond through SNMP to management requests for information. The information is stored in an MIB.

301