ZyXEL Communications ES-4024A - Manual (Page 115)

ES-4024A Series Switch Support Notes
All contents copyright (c) 2006 ZyXEL Communications Corporation.
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Overview of RMON
Remote Monitoring (RMON) is a standard monitoring specification that
enables various network monitors and console systems to exchange
network-monitoring data. RMON provides network administrators with more
freedom in selecting network-monitoring probes and consoles with features
that meet their particular networking needs.
RMON was originally developed to address the problem of managing LAN
segments and remote sites from a central location. The RMON specification,
which is an extension of the SNMP MIB, is a standard monitoring specification.
Within an RMON network monitoring data is defined by a set of statistics and
functions and exchanged between various different monitors and console
systems. Resultant data is used to monitor network utilization for network
planning and performance-tuning, as well as assisting in network fault
diagnosis.
RMON solutions are comprised of two components: a probe (or an agent or a
monitor), and a client, usually a management station. Agents store network
information within their RMON MIB and are normally found as embedded
software on network hardware such as routers and switches although they can
be a program running on a PC. Agents can only see the traffic that flows
through them so they must be placed on each LAN segment or WAN link that
is to be monitored. Clients, or management stations, communicate with the
RMON agent or probe, using SNMP to obtain and correlate RMON data.
Now, there are a number of variations to the RMON MIB. For example, the
Token Ring RMON MIB provides objects specific to managing Token Ring
networks. The SMON MIB extends RMON by providing RMON analysis for
switched networks.
RMON Groups
RMON delivers information in nine RMON groups of monitoring elements,
each providing specific sets of data to meet common network-monitoring