SNMP, SNMPv2, SNMPv3, and RMON 1 and 2 (3rd Edition) [Hardcover]

William Stallings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0201485346 | ISBN-13: 978-0201485349 | Edition: 3

This book is the definitive guide to SNMP-based network and internetwork management for network administrators, managers, and designers. Concise, focusing on practical issues, and completely up to date, it covers SNMPv1, SNMPv2, and the most recent SNMPv3, as well as RMON 1 and RMON 2. The book provides an extensive discussion on standard MIBs (Management Information Bases), including MIB-II and the all-important Ethernet Interface MIB for Internet connections. In addition, the book presents RMON 1 and RMON 2 enhancements, looking at statistics collection, alarms, and filters, as well as the extensions to RMON 1 for RMON 2 devices.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and the related Remote Network Monitoring (RMON) standards make it possible for network administrators to control and monitor even the most complicated networks. In a textbook-style treatment, William Stallings's SNMP, SNMPv2, SNMPv3, and RMON 1 and 2 explains what's behind this family of popular networking standards.

The book begins with some theory about what tasks network administrators need to do, such as monitoring performance, faults, and accounting, along with configuration and security control. The guide then describes SNMP--which was introduced in 1989--as a successful solution to the basic problems of network administration. (One of the strengths of SNMP is that it allows administrators to work with disparate networks running on TCP/IP.) The author details how an SNMP Management Information Base (MIB), which stores network information, is organized and also how the protocol works to collect and store network information.

The RMON standard actually uses SNMP with its own MIB format to collect statistics about a network. The author provides detailed descriptions of this information, along with RMON filters and alarms, which can be used to troubleshoot a network.

New and improved standards RMONv2, SNMPv2, and SNMPv3 comprise the remainder of this book. RMONv2 allows network administration of more kinds of networks and devices. SNMPv2 provides enhanced administration capabilities, while SNMPv3 adds the security and encryption that was lacking in earlier versions of the protocol.

This textbook is crammed with tables and statistics, and shows off the author's command of the relevant networking standards. Much more readable than the Request for Comments (RFC) documents that describe these standards, this title provides a comprehensive reference work on SNMP and RMON for the working Internet professional. --Richard Dragan

From the Inside Flap

The relentless growth in the information processing needs of organizations has been accompanied by rapid development in computer and data networking technology to support those needs, and an explosion in the variety of equipment and networks offered by vendors. Gone are the days when an organization would rely on a single vendor and a relatively straightforward architecture to support its needs. The world is no longer divided into the pure mainframe-based, IBM-compatible centralized environment and the PC-based, single-LAN-type, distributed environment. Today's typical organization has a large and growing but amorphous architecture, with a variety of local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs), supported by bridges and routers, and a variety of distributed computing services and devices, including PCs, workstations, and servers. And, of course, despite over two decades of premature eulogies, the mainframe lives on in countless distributed and a few centralized configurations.

To manage these systems and networks, which continue to grow in scale and diversity, a rich set of automated network management tools and applications is needed. Fundamental to the operation of such tools and applications in a multivendor environment are standardized techniques for representing and exchanging information relating to network management.

In response to these needs, managers and users have turned overwhelmingly to one standard: SNMP and the related RMON specification. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) was initially specified in the late 1980s and quickly became the standard means for multivendor network management. However, SNMP was too limited to meet all critical network management needs. Three enhancements have solidified the role of SNMP as the indispensable network management tool. First the RMON (Remote Network Monitoring) specification, which is built on SNMP, was released in 1991. RMON was revised in 1995, and an enhancement to RMON, known as RMON2, was issued in 1997. RMON defines algorithms and databases for managing remote LANs. Second, an enhanced version of SNMP, known as SNMPv2, was released in 1993 and revised in 1995. SNMPv2 provides more functionality and greater efficiency than in the original version of SNMP. Finally, SNMPv3 was issued in 1998. SNMPv3 defines an overall framework for present and future versions of SNMP and adds security features to SNMP. This book covers the latest versions of SNMPv1, SNMPv2, and RMON 1 and 2, as well as the new SNMPv3. All these versions are in active use.

Objective

To manage today's systems effectively and to plan intelligently for the future use of network management systems, the systems manager needs an understanding of the technology of network management and a thorough grasp of the details of the existing and evolving standards. This book's objective is to fill that need.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to SNMP-based network and internetwork management. Part I of the book is a survey of network management technology and techniques, to enable the reader to place the various vendor offerings into the context of his or her requirements. Part II presents the original SNMP family of standards, which is still the most widely deployed version. Part III looks at the revised version of RMON1, plus RMON2, which extends RMON functionality. Part IV examines SNMPv2, which provides expanded functionality to SNMP. Part V of the book examines SNMPv3, which provides security features for use with SNMPv1 or SNMPv2. Throughout, practical issues related to the use of these standards, and products based on these standards, are examined.

Intended Audience

This book is intended for a broad range of readers interested in network management, including: Students and professionals in data processing and data communications: This book is intended as a basic tutorial and reference source for this exciting area. Network management designers and implementers: This book discusses critical design issues and explores approaches to meeting communication requirements. Network management system customers and system managers: This book is meant to help the reader understand what features and structures are needed in a network management facility, and it provides information about current and evolving standards to enable the reader to assess a specific vendor's offering.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Uri Blumenthal of IBM for providing insight and answering questions concerning SNMPv3.

I would also like to thank the following reviewers, who generously provided feedback on part or all of the second edition: K. K. Ramakrishnan of AT&T, Russell Dietz of Technically Elite Concepts, Ravi Prakash of FTP Software, Ole Jacobsen of Cisco, Cliff Baker of the Research Libraries Group, Sandra Durham of Cisco, and Ian Taylor of Cygnus. In addition, the two main authors of RMON2, Andy Bierman of Bierman Consulting and Robin Iddon of AXON Networks, provided detailed reviews of the RMON material.

In addition, I am grateful to the people who reviewed the original proposal for this book, and an early draft: Lyman Chapin of BBN, Radia Perlman of Novell, Glen Glater and Christopher Heigham of Midnight Networks, and Peter Schmidt of Midnight Networks.

0201485346P04062001

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3 edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201485346
• ISBN-13: 978-0201485349
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why is this book getting good reviews?, June 1, 2000

By 

Mangesh Kale (Pune, India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SNMP, SNMPv2, SNMPv3, and RMON 1 and 2 (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

I bought the book because it has good reviews. I do not agree with the good reviews. I have read the book back to back, and I feel that the author has made the subject more difficult. It is a typical approach where less amount of material is beaten up again and again. I am an advanced developer in SNMP and related topics. I think that the author wants to make the book more difficult to read because he wants the readers to think that it is thorough. It is not a simple book to understand, especially if you want to implement SNMP on systems. A more direct approach is required and I would welcome a book which makes things more simple. Organisation of the book is also not very good. I'd really not advise people to buy this book, if they find any other

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and Authoritative, August 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: SNMP, SNMPv2, SNMPv3, and RMON 1 and 2 (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

I had been searching the web and other printed text on SNMP network management and found that most do not go into enough detail or the explanations are very vague. If I had picked up William Stalling's book 6 months ago, I would have saved myself a lot of time. If you decide to get a book on SNMP network management, make it this one. It is very comprehensive. Discusses and provides in-depth information on all topics relating to SNMP network management written in a clear and easy to read style. This book is essential for both students and working professionals, thanks to William Stallings.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not That Happy, September 7, 2001

By 

Edmund Mcguigan "Ed McGuigan" (Boynton Beach, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SNMP, SNMPv2, SNMPv3, and RMON 1 and 2 (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

Ten years ago I thought that William Stallings was a good author.

However, technical writing has moved forward since then or at least I have read a lot more technical books, and when given the choice of a Stallings book or a book by another author, I would check out the other author first.

Mr Stallings is something of an interpreter of incomprehensible standards documents, a high priest of hi-tech. Unfortunately his style is not very accessible, as though he is keen to maintain a certain element of mystique and maintain an intellectual distance from the unititiated.

For me, he is on the wrong side of the balance between technical stringency and accessibility.

For anyone who wants to use SNMP rather create SNMP software, it helps to break off from discussions of entities, instances, objects, vectors and the finers point of Abstract Syntax Notation to give some meaningful concrete examples with words like WAN link, packet, error etc. Mr Stallings is much more comfortable with the abstact than I am as befits a man who reads IEEE specifications but he needs to remember that he is preaching to more practical simple-minded types who like to talk about "relatively" tangible and familiar things.

I think the guys who rate this book highly are programmers who already knew about SNMP before buying the book and who use the book as a reference. As a network admin who wants to use SNMP to manage my network, I can say that I would buy this book with my company's money but not mine.