HP XP Racks - Manual (Page 5)

1 Introduction
This topic provides an overview of the SNMP implementation for monitoring the XP7 Storage,
including the agent and management functions.
SNMP Manager overview
SNMP Manager is installed in the network management station. It collects and manages information
from SNMP agents installed in the managed devices on the network. The SNMP Manager
graphically displays information collected from two or more SNMP agents, accumulates the
information in the database, and analyzes problems discovered while accumulating this information.
SNMP Manager and SNMP Agent interaction
Figure 1 Example SNMP environment
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an industry-standard protocol for managing and
monitoring network devices, including disk devices, routers, and hubs. SNMP uses Simple Gateway
Management Protocol (SGMP) to manage TCP/IP gateways.
An SNMP manager monitors the devices, which are referred to as managed nodes. Typically, an
SNMP Manager polls the SNMP agents on a periodic basis. The manager receives the reports
from the agents and determines whether the devices are operating normally. If an abnormal event
occurs, an SNMP Agent can report the condition without a request from the manager, by using a
trap message.
The network management station can collect the status (information) of all managed nodes. This
information can be examined to determined if an abnormal event has occurred.
When an SNMP manager polls an agent, the following dialogue takes place:
•
An SNMP Manager sends a request packet to an SNMP Agent, which requests data regarding
the status of the managed node.
•
The SNMP Agent sends a response packet back to the SNMP Manager.
•
SNMP uses the TCP/IP User Datagram Protocol (UDP). If the SNMP Agent does not respond
within a specified time period, the SNMP Manager re-sends the request packet. That time
period is set by the system administrator, taking into account the network traffic and operation
policy.
•
If an SNMP Agent again does not respond to the resent packet, the SNMP Manager assumes
that an error has occurred. Depending on the times set for polling and response, this can take
several seconds.
SNMP Manager overview 5