Fundamentals of Simple Network Management Protocol - Research Paper Example

1 Since the birth of the Internet, Ethernet and the Internet protocol has been replacing older technology with the new one. Since the childhood of computer networking, network designers envisage a world where every living and non living thing is interconnect to the same network. A protocol capable of managing any network device is developed in 1988 named as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). SNMP embraces three dissimilar versions SNMPv1, SNMPv2, and SNMPv3. Due to the dispersion of the usage of SNMP globally, many device vendors provide support for this protocol, and many SNMP management solutions are available off-the-shelf for commonly used operating systems and programming language. Simple Network Management Protocol is the most extensively used protocol in terms of monitoring network and computing devices. SNMP can be configured with almost any network device. The objective of developing this protocol was SNMP intends to be simple and provide cost saving solutions. It has been a choice of millions due to its low processing and simple administration. The implementation of SNMP is widespread making it a success as compared to all the previous versions. Simple network management protocol Architecture Working Elements Purpose of the Architecture Protocol Provision An example showing the implementation and working of simple network management protocol Further research on SNMP 2 Introduction An organization has a network of more than 50 nodes including workstations, bridges, hubs, switches and routers. Unexpectedly the network experience drop outs and delays, how does the network administrator know which device or network node is creating a problem due to which the overall network is affected? If we expand this word “Overall Network”, it affects overall business, overall performance of the business, and the overall economy. To overcome this issue SNMP was defined in 1988 and was approved as an Internet security standard in 1990 by Internet activities board (IAB) (citation needed). An SNMP-managed network consists of three key components. First is the network management system (NMS), which is the software running on a network computer. It speaks to network nodes in managed devices through software in the managed device called the agent. Communication can be unidirectional, setting parameters from the management system or getting status on request from managed devices. Or it can be bidirectional, with managed devices reporting parameters on their own to the management system, as in failures. Though developed for computer hardware, SNMP works perfectly well with many pieces of video-specific hardware. A video server system might report the status of the disk array, including failures, and perhaps power supply voltages and fan status, as well as the status of the MPEG I/O ports. A video switcher or router might also show the status of power and cooling, reporting internal temperatures, but also might identify the absence of reference or excessive bit errors on inputs. For auditing and monitoring of computing and network devices, Simple Network management Protocol is a choice for many networks. A simple definition is available on ‘Network Dictionary’ which states” SNMP enables network administrators to manage network performance, find, solve network problems and plan for network growth”. One more definition is a good one which explains SNMP as “Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is the standard protocol developed to manage nodes (servers, workstations, routers, switches and hubs, etc.) on an IP network. SNMP enables network administrators to manage network performance, find and solve network problems, and plan for network growth. Network management systems learn of problems by receiving traps or change notices from network devices implementing SNMP. This article will discuss”. The objective of this protocol is to manage the network administration by a logical remote connectivity. SNMP is used to manage and monitor television broadcast studios, airborne military platforms, energy distribution, radio networks, Internet service providers etc. Since the creation of SNMP in 1988, it was a short term solution to manage the networks but has achieved a success and has been accepted globally. SNMP is derived from its predecessor named as Simple Gateway monitoring Protocol (SGMP). SGMP was intended to be replaced by a solution based on Common management information service (CMIS) and Common management information protocol (CMIP). The CMIP uses CMIS to sustain information exchange between network management application and agents. The CMIS provide the interface which produces functions supporting the ISO protocol and user defined management protocol (Common Management Information Protocol. 2007). 3 SNMP Versions modifications 3.1 SNMP Version 2 Version 2 is the predecessor of version one. The feature which was modified as compared to the previous version was the message format and replacing SNMPv1 ‘Trap’ (Simple Network Management Protocol version 2. 2007) 3.2 SNMP Version 3 Version 3 is the major improvement in terms of security and remote communication capabilities. User based security model (USM) was introduced for the security of messages. View based access control model (VACM) was introduced for access security. The architecture of the SNMP v3 also supports concurrent utilization of access control, different security models and message processing models (Simple Network Management Protocol version 3. 2007). 4 SNMP Architecture This architecture including the CMIP and the CMIS never accepted globally as compared to SNMP. The architecture of SNMP comprises of ‘Manager / Agent’ model. The model consists of a ‘Manager’ and an ‘Agent’ sharing a database among them. The role of the database is to manage objects and network protocols. The role of the manager is to provide an interface among the realistic network manager and the management system. The role of the agent is to provide a communication channel between the network manager and the physical network devices which are currently installed on the network. The Management information base (MIB) is the hierarchical database employed by the SNMP for depicting the information of the specific device currently monitored on the network (Citation needed.)MIB uses a small set of commands. It identifies each variable with unique object identifiers (OID) in SNMP messages transmission. The architecture of SNMP is beneficial for organizations in various ways. The organizations adopt SNMP because it is a cost effective solution and reliable. SNMP is an ‘open standard’ protocol means it is not proprietary. One of the prime features of SNMP is that it implements on the existing local area network (LAN) of the enterprise. The implementation of SNMP on existing LAN or wide area network (WAN) results in considerable savings for the enterprise. SNMP is an ‘open standard’ protocol which means that it has support from multiple vendors due to its acceptance and usage globally. SNMP is also a flexible protocol which can expands on almost any network providing a common interface for accessing all the devices on the network regardless of different types. 5 Protocol Provision SNMP govern commands to achieve what is required. The communication of messages from the manager, Human manager and agent require protocols for transmission. Every type of action or message required a different logic. SNMP uses simple messages for communication including Set (Control), Get (GetNext), Get (Response), Trap (Alarm). 5.1 Set (Control) Messages The set messages are initiated by the manager offering a request to the agent for modifying the value of the specific variable. As soon as the agent receives the messages, it sends the messages by using the Get (Response) message. This message contains the information of whether the change has been made or not. If the change has not been made that a response message states reasons for that. 5.2 Get (Get Next) Messages / Get (Response) Message The Get messages facilitate manager to retrieve information for a specific variable. As soon as the agent receives the messages, agent will give a response in the form of a response message including “The changes has been made” or an error message stating “The request cannot be processed” 5.3 Alarm Messages The alarm messages allow the agents to impulsively update the manager regarding an important event. All the other messages including Set (Control), Get (GetNext), Get (Response) were initiated by the manager, but the alarm messages are initiated by the agent. The response of these messages is effective as the agent communicate these messages as soon as the alarm occurs. The messages are relayed directly to the human manager and not to the SNMP manager. 5.3.1 Management Information Base (MIB) The management information base is the hub for communication for some criteria in the SNMP architecture. Each SNMP variable has a unique OID containing numbers and hexadecimal values. The code book which can also be assumed as a data dictionary used to assemble data. It works as an interpreter for the SMNP messages. When the SNMP manager wants to retrieve any specific value or characteristics including system uptime, name of the element or device, the MIB will assemble a get packet. If the code is found in the ‘code book’ a response packet is sent including the current value of the object. If the OID is not found in the code book, an error message containing the reason is sent by using the response message. For example, the Internet protocol translation table used to bind the IP address to the physical address is ::={ IP 22} (the SNMP Management Information Base (MIB-II). 2000). When an element sends a trap package, it consist OID, value information and bindings to elucidate the event. 6 Innovative SNMP Contribution For embedded systems developers, robust end to end solutions are required which may communicate between the clients and devices. The ‘OSGi’ is initiating an open architecture that assists services, management and communication between clients and devices (Wong 2001). A design by (Merino, Madrid et al. 2006) of an SNMP agent is implemented for scalable remote management solutions. Open service gateway initiative ‘OSGi’ platforms have designed a solution for accessing multiple remote resources. SNMP protocol allows the integration of different enterprise elements connected on the Internet in to a standardized remote management methodology. It facilitates the remote management of complex and dynamically changing environment on a scalable network. Sequin based on Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) was launched to Track Quality of service (QoS) metrics in real time. This system was implemented by the Internet Service Providers (ISP) to track the bandwidth, Service, UPS, Switches, and Routers etc. The ISP provides services to corporate clients with Service Level Agreements (SLA). This means that they have to provide Internet connectivity in spite of any failures occurring on the network. This system lays a solid foundation by keeping track of the parameters defines with the help of SNMP. SNMP ALG protocol sequence analysis was deployed for intrusion detection system to capture data from the source and the sender. Data transmission is not affected as the SNMP ALG 64 Byte structure is not difficult to capture data from the network. A monitor and a network can be added on order to improve security of the network. 7 Installing and Configuring SNMP Service (Windows XP) 1. Click Start button >> Control Panel >>Add or Remove Programs >> Add/Remove Windows Components  2. Click Management and Monitoring Tools >>Details select SNMP feature. 3. Select Simple Network Management Protocol feature. 4. Click OK>> Next  5. Two new services will be installed: SNMP Service SNMP Trap Service Windows do not allocate any community string to the SNMP service by default, ‘Localhost’ is only allowed. Advance configuration is needed to append a preferred community string, which will take action to prompt the password for granting response to any SNMP request from remote scheme. 7.1 Configuration of SNMP Servicse (Add “public” community string) 1. Click Start >>Control Panel. 2. System and Maintenance  3. Open Administrative Tools. 4. Click Services applet. 5. Right click SNMP Service >> click Properties. 6. Click Trap tab in SNMP Service Properties. 7. “Community name” text box, enter any case-sensitive name for SNMP community to which this computer will send trap messages. 8. Click Add to list. 7.2 Security Configuration 1. Click Security >>“Accepted community names” section, click Add button 2. Select the suitable permission level in the “Community Rights” drop down list to indicate how the host process SNMP requests from the chosen community. READ ONLY is suggested. 3. Type public in the “Community Name” box 4. Click Add. 5. Click Accept SNMP packets from any host to send and receive SNMP packets from any inbound and outbound network. 6. Click Accept SNMP packets from these hosts to bound the reception of SNMP packets, 7. click Add ,type suitable host name 8 Conclusion The Simple network management protocol provides a convenient and cost effective solution for managing network fault detection and monitoring. SNMPv3 is widely adopted globally as compared to the previous versions. The simple architecture of the protocol makes it efficient and robust when performing in a large network. The protocol operates on existing LAN and WAN making organizations to save time and cost. The flexible features of SNMP make it more demanding due to its expandability features. It can be expanded depending on the size of the network. The efficient use of MIB enables the agent and the manager to communicate with ease. Lot of research is conducted and the explicit behavior of the SNMP protocol is utilized to its full potential. There is lot of support available for SNMP and the applications it supports. Due to open standard, it is compatible on almost every network device. SNMP is modifying towards a supporting role in which certain responsibilities are assigned according to the functional requirements of the software application in which the SNMP protocol is integrated. Reference Simple Network Management Protocol version 2. 2007. Network Dictionary, , pp. 442-443. MERINO, P.J.M., MADRID, N.M. and SEEPOLD, R.E.D., 2006. Design of an SNMP Agent for OSGi Service Platforms. Enformatika, 18, pp. 132-137. WONG, W., 2001. Open Services Gateway Initiative: OSGi Links Devices And Clients. Electronic Design, 49(12), pp. 86. Common Management Information Protocol. 2007. Network Dictionary, , pp. 110-110. The SNMP Management Information Base (MIB-II). 2000. Managing TCP/IP Networks, , pp. 275-324 Protocols Guide: TCP/IP Protocols: Application Layer Protocols: SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol. 2007. Javvin Technologies, Inc, pp. 30-31. LUFF, J., 2010. Facility management and control. Broadcast Engineering, 52(11), pp. 48-49. Read More