INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 Harrie Hazewinkel DESIRE / MUSIQ CEO Programme Joint Research Centre of the E.C. harrie.hazewinkel@jrc.it January 27 1997 Survey of Defined Managed Objects for Applications Management <draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt> Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.'' To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the ``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet- Drafts Shadow Directories on ftp.is.co.za (Africa), nic.nordu.net (Europe), munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ds.internic.net (US East Coast), or ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast). Distribution of this document is unlimited. Please send comments to harrie.hazewinkel@jrc.it. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 1]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 Abstract This document was produced as the result of a survey on MIBs related to application management. The goal was to identify overlapping or duplicated objects and discover problems within the relationships between those MIBs. The survey covered MIBs already defined and those currently being defined with in IETF WGs, namely: * the SYSAPPL-MIB, * the WWW MIB, * the NSM-MIB, * the DSA-MIB, * the HR-MIB, and * the RDBMS-MIB. This internet draft analysis and describes: 1) contents of application MIBs, 2) duplicated and overlapping objects and the 3) indexing scheme of application related MIBs. It is interesting to note that both the SYSAPPL-MIB and NSM-MIB claim to be generic MIBs (the SYSAPPL-MIB under an OS/host perspective and the NSM-MIB under a networked/distributed perspective). The HR-MIB describes a host as a set of hardware and software groups. On the other hand, either the DSA-MIB, the RDBMS-MIB and the WWW-MIB are application specific MIBs. There are many overlapping and duplicated objects in the surveyed MIBs. For example, the software groups of the HR-MIB can be replaced with the recently defined SYSAPPL-MIB. Other overlaps or duplications consist mainly of objects which have more detail. The current MIB definitions pose two major problems: 1) indexing with managed objects of other MIBs, and 2) mapping of applications on both in the SYSAPPL-MIB and the NSM-MIB. Implementation problems arise when indexes from other MIBs are used. Is implementation of the MIB containing the objects used for indexes required? Within the current SNMP framework there are no rules or hints given to these questions. If an agent implementor decides not to implement the referred MIB, he has to choose his own index values in such a way that no conflicts will occur. At the moment, host-based applications map cleanly onto the SYSAPPL-MIB and networked applications fit onto the NSM-MIB. However, an application can be made of multiple elements and processes while being a multiple networked applications (services) at the same time. Although a mapping into both MIBs is possible, their relation is not specified anyware in the existing MIBs. A relationship table is, therefore, required to supplement the existing MIBs. Otherwise, no coherence between the SYSAPPL-MIB and the NSM-MIB exists. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 2]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 1. Introduction Distributed applications became increasingly important for organisations. Companies are more geographically spread and their core applications are often connected together across computer networks. The need for instrumentation that provides realtime monitoring and configuration capabilites for these systems is of critical importance. The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) framework can be used to provide this infrastructure. The SNMP framework is used by operators to manage physical or logical devices remotely. The devices are represented through managed objects which are accessed via a virtual information store, termed the Management Information Base or MIB. This MIB (and the SNMP framework) allows extensions of new defined managed objects according to a standard scheme. The IETF continues to make efforts leading to the definition of MIBs that can be used for applications. This internet draft analysis those efforts and describes: 1) contents of application MIBs, 2) duplicated and overlapping objects and the 3) indexing scheme of application related MIBs. The following MIBs are analysed: * the SYSAPPL-MIB, * the WWW MIB, * the NSM-MIB, * the DSA-MIB, * the HR-MIB, and * the RDBMS-MIB. 1.1 How to read this internet draft. This document relates the continuing IETF efforts in application MIB definition with the related. This internet-draft is organised as follows: * Section 2 describes the Working Groups (WG) of the surveyed MIBs. * Section 3 describes a summary of the surveyed MIBs. * Section 4 describes the similarities of the MIBs. * Section 5 describes the indexing scheme within the current MIBs Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 3]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 2. The Working Groups of Application Related MIBs In this section we provide a short description of the IETF Working Groups working application management related MIBs and present the current status of their work. At this moment only the SYSAPPL WG and the MADMAN WG are defining management objects to manage applications. The APPLMIB WG is chartered to define managed objects for the monitoring and control of distributed applications. The desire was to support distributed applications, but not at the expense of creating a MIB which cannot or will not be implemented. Consensus was reached on the fact that the APPLMIB WG would focus initially on applications resident in a single host, but that there should be a possibility of additional growth. Features for distributed applications will be added unless the required support would make the MIB over complex. The current status is that the first MIB, the SYSAPPL-MIB which does not require instrumentation of the applications for its population, is ready. Currently, the APPLMIB WG works on tw0 MIBs, a general application MIB requiring instrumentation within applications and a WWW-MIB for monitoring and control of Web servers. The MADMAN WG is chartered to review the managed objects already defined by the WG in January 1994. The WG in 1994 finished their work under the Network Management Area and resulted in 4 internet drafts which are the Network Services Monitoring MIB, the X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB, the Mail Monitoring MIB and Directory Alarms MIB. In this survey only the first two MIBs are described. The review is currently in its final stage. The Host Resources WG was chartered to define a set of managed objects useful for management of host computers, the Host Resources (HR) MIB. Host computers were defined as a system independent of the operating system, the network service and the applications running on the host. An important requirement during the definition of the HR MIB was that the managed object had to be system independent. The HR WG has finished their work and results are in RFC 1514. The Relational DataBase Management System WG was chartered to define a set of managed objects useful for the management of database systems. The work is finished and results published in RFC 1697. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 4]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 3. The application related MIBs. This section is a summary of the documents describing the definition of application related MIBs. 3.1 The System Application MIB The SYSAPPL-MIB is designed to provide the requirements for monitoring the behaviour, the faults and the performance of applications. The design is made in such a way that no instrumentation of an application is required. The MIB defines managed objects under an operating system and a file-system perspective. The structure of the SYSAPPL-MIB reflects three views (groups) of applications within a system 1) the installed applications 2) the applications that are currently running on the system 3) applications that have run on the system in the past The Installed Applications Group. --- --------- ------------ ------ The installed applications group provides information on the software installed on a system. This group has a highly static character, since installed applications tend to not change very fast. The group makes a distinction between an application and the elements from which it is composed. By using the information provided by this group a user can obtain information about the currently running elements (processes) or those elements (processes) that have run in applications. The group consists of: * "sysApplInstallPkgTable" provides information on the installed packages such as name, version, location and installed date. * "sysApplInstallElmtTable" provides detailed information on the application by means of a set of elements acting together as an application. Each element is described in an entry and provides information such as whether the element is executable, name, installed date. The Applications Run Group. --- ------------ --- ------ The applications run group reflects the dynamic information from the applications on a system. It describes applications that are currently running or that have run on a system. The elements provide historic information about the applications. The group is divided in the same fashion as the installed application group, i.e. an application table and an element table. Besides that division, the tables are also divided into applications which are running or have been run. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 5]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 Due to the historical character of this group, the 'have run' tables can consume an unlimited size and number of resources. Therefore, managed objects are added to control and limit the amount of used resources. The group defines the following objects: * "sysApplRunTable" provides information on applications currently running on the system. For instance, the time an application started running, the number files it has open and the number of connections it has. * "sysApplPastRunTable" provides historical information about applications that have been running. For instance, the time an application started running, the time it stopped and the last known number of connections. * "sysApplElmtRunTable" provides information on all processes running and (if known) to which application a process belongs. For instance, the time the process started running and the number of connections the process has. * "sysApplElmtPastRunTable" provides information on processes that have been running. For instance, the time a process started running and the time it stopped running. * "sysApplPastRunTableSizeLimit" provides the maximum number of entries in the "sysApplPastRunTable". When this limit is reached the oldest entry will be removed. * "sysApplPastRunTableItemsRem" provides a count of the number of items removed from the "sysApplPastRunTable". * "sysApplPastRunTimeLimit" provides the minimum time that should pass before an entry may be removed from the "sysApplPastRunTable". * "sysApplElemPastRunSizeLimit" provides the maximum size of entry growth of the "sysApplElmtPastRunTable" before the oldest entry will be removed. * "sysApplElmtPastRunTableItemsRem" provides a count of the number of items removed from the "sysApplElmtPastRunTable". * "sysApplPastRunTimeLimit" provid the minimum amount of time before an entry may be removed from the "sysApplPastRunTable". * "sysApplPollInterval" provides the minimum time in seconds that an agent will poll the status of the managed resources. 3.2 The World Wide Web MIB The WWW-MIB is designed to fulfil the requirements to manage entities responsible for documents exchange over the World Wide Web. An entity is defined as a logical device which can behave as a client, a server, a proxy or a cached-proxy accessible at a unique transport address. An exchanged document is a coherent piece of information/data stored on a system orserved through another application. The documents are transported through a 'Document Transfer Protocol' (DTP) which is based on the request/response paradigm and abstracts from the actual used protocol. Therefore, the WWW-MIB can be used in a wide range of document transporting protocols and also allowing the introduction of new DTPs based on the client-server paradigm. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 6]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 HTTP, FTP and NNTP are examples of such protocols. The structure of the WWW-MIB reflects the four major groups: (1) entity administration ("wwwSystem"), (2) DTP traffic ("wwwStatistics"), (3) accessed or stored document ("wwwDocuments") and (4) error reporting ("wwwError"). The System Group --- ------ ----- The system group provides general information on the WWW entities in the system. Those entities exchange messages (PDUs) between each other with the abstract defined 'Document Transfer Protocol'. The group consists of one table. * "wwwEntityTable" provides general administrative information of an entity. For instance, contact address, the used 'DTP' protocol and the transport address the entity listens to. The index used to uniquely define the entities is the "applIndex" of the NSM-MIB. The Statistics Group --- ---------- ----- The statistics group provides network management information on network traffic transmitted and/or received by the WWW-entity. The group consists of the following tables. * "wwwSummaryTable" provides a summary on the network traffic statistics of the associated entity. The index used is equal to the "wwwEntityTable". For instance, the number of requests received or transmitted and the number of unknown protocol type messages. * "wwwRequestTable" provides the statistics on the transmitted and/or received requests whereby for each request type statistics is maintained. The indexing of this table is defined by the "applIndex" to associate the entity with the "wwwEntityTable" and the request type to uniquely define information for each request type. For instance, a GET-request of HTTP is kept in an entry. * "wwwResponseTable" provides the statistics on the transmitted and/or received responses whereby for each response type statistics is maintained. The indexing of this table is defined the "applIndex" to associate the entity with the "wwwEntityTable" and by the response type. For instance, a statistics entry for the response type '200' is kept in the table. The Error Group --- ----- ----- The "wwwErrorGroup" should provide network management information of errors occurred with the WWW-entity. Because of the applications MIB to be defined in the SYSAPPL-WG the errors here defined should be specific for WWW entities such as authentication errors. At this moment there are no objects defined. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 7]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The Document Group --- -------- ----- The "wwwDocumentGroup" defines management information on the transferred documents. The management information is ordered by the entities and it is seen as an installed package. Therefore, this table depends besides the "applIndex" of the NSM-MIB also on the SYSAPPL-MIB. The accessible documents for a certain entity act as an installed package as defined in the SYSAPPL-MIB. The document group has the following defined objects. * "wwwDocNameTable" provides the capability of searching for the index of the "wwwDocumentTable" if only the name of the document is known. This table maps the document name onto an uniquely identifying number for that document in this package. * "wwwDoctable" provides access statistics on a document. In case of general information of a document is needed you should look into the SYSAPPL-MIB to which the table contains pointers. 3.3 The Network Services Monitoring MIB The NSM-MIB is designed to monitor the behaviour of networked applications. No application specific objects are defined in the NSM-MIB. Therefore, it can be used for a wide range of applications which make use of network services and are distributed. The structure of the NSM-MIB reflects the coherent behavior of applications in conjunction with the network service on which the applications rely. The NSM-MIB definitions consists of the following objects. * "applTable" provides information on the networked application. For instance, the name of the application, the number of inbound and outbound connections. * "assocTable" provides information on the associations with the other/ remote applications. For instance, the remote address and the duration. 3.4 The X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB The X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB (DSA-MIB) is designed to manage a Directory Systems Agent (DSA), a component of the OSI Directory Framework. The MIB allows managers to monitor operational aspects and performance of a DSA. The DSA-MIB is an application specific and relies on the NSM-MIB. The structure of the DSA-MIB reflects only the DSA-applications specific parts in 3 defined object groups the DSA operations, the DSA statistics and cache performance and the interaction with peer DSAs Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 8]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The DSA-MIB definitions consist of the following objects. * "dsaOpsTable" provides the summary information on accesses, operations and errors occurred within the DSA. * "dsaEntriesTable" provides statistical and cache performance information on DSA applications. * "dsaIntTable" provides some information on interactions done with their respective peer DSAs. These interaction are done in the past by the monitored DSAs. 3.5 The Host Resources MIB The Host Resources MIB (HR-MIB) contains a set of management objects useful for hosts system. The term 'host' refers to any type of computer connected with other computers via a network. Although MIB-II is especially defined for the protocol stacks used in the host, the HR-MIB supplies additional information on the hardware, operating system, installed and running software. The HR-MIB is structured by three hardware groups ("hrSystem", "hrStorage" and "hrDevice") and three software groups ("hrSWRun", "hrSWRunPerf" and "hrSWInstalled"). NOTE: The operating system is seen as having both hardware and software components. The Hardware Groups --- -------- ------ The system group, "hrSystem", provides additional system information besides the system group of MIB-II. The group provides general hardware variables and OS parameters. The definitions consists of the following scalars. * "hrSystemUpTime" provides the amount of time since the host was last initialized. The difference with the "sysUpTime" is that the "hrSystemUpTime" provides the host up time and the "sysUpTime" the SNMP-entity uptime. * "hrSystemDate" provides the date and time of the system. * "hrSystemInitialLoadDevice" provides a pointer to the device in the "hrDevicetable" from which the system is booted. * "hrSystemInitialLoadParameters" provides the parameters with which the system is booted. * "hrSystemNumUsers" provides the number of user on the system. * "hrSystemProcesses" provides the number of processes currently loaded or running * "hrSystemMaxProcesses" provides the maximum number of processes which the context can support. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 9]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The storage group, "hrStorage", describes all logical components which can store data. The group definitions abstracts from the implemented storage techniques; it only provides a clustering of those techniques. The group definitions consist of: * the definitions of storage types, "hrStorageTypes". For instance, the type "floppy-disc' is defined. * "hrMemorySize" provides the amount of main memory contained by the system. * "hrStorageTable" provides information of all data storage components of the system. For example, if the system contains a floppy-disc the storage table has an entry describing that floppy-disc. The device group, "hrDevice", contains information of all hardware components of the system. This group is useful for identifying and diagnosing faulty devices on a system. The group definitions consist of the following objects: * the definitions of device types, "hrDeviceTypes". For instance, types are defined for processor and co-processor. * "hrDeviceTable" provides general information on the devices such as type, description and status. The table also references if a more detailed table of the device is available. * "hrProcessorTable" provides additional information on the device type "hrDeviceProcessor". * "hrNetworkTable" provides the relationship between the network devices of the "hrDeviceTable" and the associating interface in the "ifTable". * "hrPrintertable" provides additional information on printer devices. * "hrDiskStorageTable" provides additional type information on the disk storage devices. * "hrPartitionsTable" provides information on partitions in a storage device used for long-term storage in a system. * "hrFSTable" provides information on the local or remotely mounted file system components. * the definitions of file system types ("hrFSTypes"). For instance, the Andrew file system and Windows NT file system. The Software Groups --- -------- ------ The software groups define management information on the software used in the system. The information provided is grouped in (1) the currently running, (2) the performance and (3) the installed applications. The software run group, "hrSWRun", contains information of each software part that is running or loaded into the physical or virtual memory in preparation of running. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 10]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The group definitions consist of the following objects: * "hrSWOSIndex" provides the index of the entry of the "hrSWRunTable" which represents the operating system. * "hrSWRunTable" provides detailed information on each piece of software which runs or will be loaded in preparation of running on the system. The software run performance group, "hrSWRunPerf", consists of objects providing the performance of the running software. The group consists of one table: * "hrSWRunTable" provides performance information on every piece of software running on the system. The entries of the table are link to the "hrSWRunTable" by "hrSWRunIndex". The HR software installed group, "hrSWInstalled", is useful for identifying and inventoring software installed on the system. This does not include software loadable remotely from the network. The group definitions consist of the following objects: * "hrSWInstalledlastChange" provides the "sysUpTime" of the last change of an entry in the "hrSWInstalledtable". * "hrSWInstalledlastChange" provides the "sysUpTime" of the last complete change of the "hrSWInstalledtable". * "hrSWinstalledTable" provides information on the installed software. 3.6 The Relational Database Management System MIB The Relational Database Management System MIB (RDBMS-MIB) consists of a set of management objects for relational databases. In this MIB a separation is made between a database which is seen as a collection of interrelated data organized according a relational schema and an entity which provides access to the database, termed the database server. The database server may exist independently of the database, but this condition is not required. The server can be seen as an extra layer with a well defined API through which the data is accessed. The structure of the RDBMS-MIB reflects the separation of (1) the database - where the actual data is stored - , (2) the server - access mechanism to the data and (3) the relationship between a database and an access mechanism. The Database Group --- -------- ----- Meaningful information on the databases installed on the system. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 11]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The group consists of the following 4 tables: * "rdbmsDbTable" provides the general management information on the database. General parameters such as vendor name and contact for the database. * "rdbmsDbInfoTable" provides administrative information required when the database is actively opened on a host. * "rdbmsDbParamTable" describes the parameter for the configuration of the database (This table describes on a per entry basis for each parameter). * "rdbmsDbLimitedResourceTable" provides the limitations in resources per database (The provision of this information may only be done if the database is in operation (actively open)). The Database Server Group --- -------- ------ ----- This group provides more detailed information on the servers used for accessing of the databases: The group consists of the following 4 tables: * "rdbmsSrvTable" provides general administrative information on running or installed database servers on a system. * "rdbmsSrvInfoTable" provides database server specific information which requires additional semantics then defined in the "applTable" of the NSM-MIB. (An entry may only available in this table if the associated "applOperStatus" has the value "up(1)"). * "rdbmsSrvParamTable" provides the configuration parameters of the database server. * "rdbmsSrvLimitedResourceTable" provides the limitations of resources used by the database server. The Relations Group --- --------- ----- A relationship between database servers and databases is not uniquely defined. The design of the MIB allows cross connections between different databases and database servers. The group consists of the following object: * "rdbmsRelTable" provides the relationship by the index of the "rdbmsDbIndex" and the "applTable". the supported relationships are 1:1, 1:many, many:1 and many:many. The table also provides the status of the relationship. Traps ----- Two traps are defined to inform the manager of urgent matters concerning databases. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 12]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The following traps can be generated: * "rdbmsStateChange" provides that a certain relationship between a database server and a database has hanged in state and the state change made it less accessible for use. * "rdbmsOutOfSpace" provides that one of the databases is unable to allocate more space for its operation. 4. The overlapping objects of the MIBs All of the surveyed MIBs in this document define managed objects for applications. That makes it possible to have certain overlaps duplications in their defintions. This section describes duplications or overlaps recognized between the surveyed MIBs. NOTE: Whenever there is an overlap or duplication recognized between MIBs both are are mentioned in the title of the section. In these sections is then a detailed comparison made on scalar- or columnar-object level (the managed objects). The arrows between the objects express the relation and scaled in a certain level. If an arrow is draw with a '=' symbol object objects can be seen as equal. If an '~' symbol is used there is no real duplication, but only more detail is provided. It is also possible that multiple object can express something similar than other objects. 4.1 The SYStem APPLication MIB and the Host Resources MIB The SYSAPPL-MIB provides information on installed applications and monitoring of processes which are running or have been running on a system. Basically the software groups of the HR-MIB provide the same kind of information. Both do not require instrumentation of applications in order to populate the MIBs. Therefore, both MIBs could be interchanged without loosing the ability to manage the processes/applications in a system. However, there is also a huge difference between both MIBs. The HR-MIB also provides information on hardware, not available in the SYSAPPL-MIB. The Installed Software --- --------- -------- The "hrSWInstalledTable" is somehow a subset of the "sysApplCfgElmtTable". The reasoning behind this is that the "hrSWInstalledTable" has an entry for each installed piece of runnable software which is also provided by the "sysApplCfgElmntTable", but the "sysApplCfgElmntTable" has also information of non runnable elements of an applications. Below a detailed comparison at the level of the objects instances is shown in figure 1. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 13]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 SYSAPPL-MIB HR-MIB sysApplInstalledTable hrSWInstalledLastChange sysApplInstalledEntry hrSWInstalledLastUpdateTime sysApplInstalledIndex<----------+ hrSWInstalledTable sysApplInstalledManufacturer<-+ | hrSWInstalledEntry sysApplInstalledProductName<--+ +---- = --->hrSWInstalledIndex sysApplInstalledVersion<------+ | +->hrSWInstalledName sysApplInstalledSerialNumber<-+-|---- ~ -+->hrSWInstalledID sysApplInstalledDate<-------+ | | +-- = --->hrSWInstalledType sysApplInstalledLocation +-------- ~ --->hrSWInstalledDate | | | | sysApplInstallElmtTable | | | | sysApplInstallElmtEntry | | | | sysApplInstallElmtIndex<----|---+ | sysApplInstallElmtName<-----|-+ | sysApplInstallElmtType<-----|-----+ sysApplInstallElmtDate<-----+ sysApplInstallElmtPath sysApplInstallElmtSize sysApplInstallElmtRole sysApplInstallElmtModifyDate Figure 1: Installed package overlap of the SYSAPPL-MIB and HR-MIB. Although the HR-MIB has two objects to provide a time indication of the change in the "hrSWInstaledTable", the information can be seen as a subset provided of the SYSAPPL-MIB. The Running Processes --- ------- --------- The "sysApplRunTable" and the "sysApplElmntRunTable" of the SYSAPPL-MIB and the "hrSWRunTable" of the HR-MIB provide information about the running processes. In grounds the "hrSWRunTable" provides the same information as the "sysApplRunTable". The difference is that in the SYSAPPL-MIB the running processes can also be grouped into (if the information is available) applications built of multiple processes, through the "sysApplRunTable". Thus, a conclusion could be that the "hrSWOSRunTable" could be obsoleted and replaced by the associated objects of the SYSAPPL-MIB. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 14]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 SYSAPPL-MIB HR-MIB sysApplRunTable hrSWOSIndex sysApplRunEntry sysApplRunIndex hrSWRunTable sysApplRunInstalledIndex hrSWRunEntry sysApplRunLastStarted +-------------->hrSWRunIndex sysApplRunCurrentState | hrSWRunName sysApplRunEnded | hrSWRunID | +----------->hrSWRunPath sysApplElmtRunTable | | +-------->hrSWRunParameters sysApplElmtRunEntry | | | hrSWRunType sysApplElmtRunInvocID<- ~ -+ | | +----->hrSWRunStatus sysApplElmtRunIndex | | | sysApplElmtRunInstallID = = ~ sysApplElmtRunTimeStarted | | | sysApplElmtRunState<----------------+ sysApplElmtRunName<-----------+ | sysApplElmtRunParameters<--------+ sysApplElmtRunCPU sysApplElmtRunMemory sysApplElmtRunNumTCon sysApplElmtRunNumFiles Figure 2: Running processes overlap of the SYSAPPL-MIB and HR-MIB. The figure above shows that there isn't a complete overlap or duplication, but certain information can be retrieved otherwise. The "hrSWRunType" expresses for instance whether the process of the entry is running. This sort of information can also be retrieved from the SYSAPPL-MIB. In that MIB the process is in the "sysApplElmtRunTable"or "sysApplElmtPastRunTable". One difference is that in the HR-MIB you can set the type to `invalid' causing that it is unloaded from the system. This is not possible in the SYSAPPL-MIB. The "hrSWRunName" and "hrSWRunID" do not have similar objects in the run groups of the SYSAPPL-MIB, but this information can be retrieved from the SYSAPPL-MIB through the "sysApplElmtRunInstallID", which points to the "sysApplInstallElmtTable". Although the overlap is here not direct recognisable, the software run group is contained by the more recent SYSAPPL-MIB. The exception is the "hrSWOSIndex" providing the index of the process which instantiates the OS (kernel). 4.2 The SYStem APPLication MIB and the Network Services Monitoring MIB The NSM-MIB provides a subset of applications of the SYSAPPL-MIB. That is, the subset consists of only those applications which have networked associations with other applications. Currently, the SYSAPPL-MIB is defined as the MIB with which the basic management operations can be Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 15]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 done in respect of applications management. Strangely enough the NSM-MIB is the same, but the only for networked applications. The overlap between these MIBs consists of some general administrative data and some basic objects providing some running information. The Administrative Application Objects --- -------------- ----------- ------- Since both MIBs are seen as the basis and generic platform on which other MIBs should be based, both define some administrative managed objects. In fact, there is no complete overlap, only partial overlap as it can be seen from figure 3. SYSAPPL-MIB NSM-MIB sysApplInstalledTable applTable sysApplInstalledEntry applEntry sysApplInstalledIndex applIndex sysApplInstalledManufacturer +->applName sysApplInstalledProductName<---+ ~ -+->applDirectoryName sysApplInstalledVersion<-------|-- = ->applVersion sysApplInstalledSerialNumber | applUptime sysApplInstalledDate | applOperStatus sysApplInstalledLocation<------+ applLastChange | applInboundAssociations sysApplInstallElmtTable | applOutboundAssociations sysApplInstallElmtEntry | applAccumulatedInboundAssoc.. sysApplInstallElmtIndex | applAccumulatedOutboundAssoc.. sysApplInstallElmtName<--------+ applLastInboundActivity sysApplInstallElmtType applLastOutboundActivity sysApplInstallElmtDate applRejectedInboundAssoc.. sysApplInstallElmtPath applFailedOutboundAssiations sysApplInstallElmtSize applDescription sysApplInstallElmtRole applURL Figure 3: Administrative overlap of the SYSAPPL-MIB and NSM-MIB. The Overlap Of Runtime Objects --- ------- -- ------- ------- Since both MIBs are seen as the basis and generic platform on which other MIBs should be based, both define some administrative managed objects. In fact, there is no complete overlap only partial overlap which can be seen in the figure 4. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 16]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 SYSAPPL-MIB NSM-MIB sysApplRunTable applTable sysApplRunEntry applEntry sysApplRunIndex applIndex sysApplRunInstalledIndex applName sysApplRunLastStarted<------------+ applDirectoryName sysApplRunCurrentState<---------+ | applVersion | +- ~ ->applUptime sysApplElmtRunTable +--- ~ ->applOperStatus sysApplElmtRunEntry | | applLastChange sysApplElmtRunInvocId | | applInboundAssociations sysApplElmtRunIndex | | applOutboundAssociations sysApplElmtRunInstallID | | applAccumulatedInboundAss.. sysApplElmtRunTimeStarted<------|-+ applAccumulatedOutboundAss.. sysApplElmtRunState<------------+ applLastInboundActivity sysApplElmtRunName applLastOutboundActivity sysApplElmtRunParameters applRejectedInboundAss.. sysApplElmtRunCPU applFailedOutboundAss.. sysApplElmtRunMemory applDescription sysApplElmtRunNumTCon applURL sysApplElmtRunNumFiles Figure 4: Runtime overlap of the SYSAPPL-MIB and NSM-MIB. Overlap in runtime information exists only for the objects expressing the state of the application and time it is running. 4.3 The Host Resource MIB and Network Services Monitoring MIB. The Host Resources MIB was the early start in which managed objects are defined to manage applications. In relation with the NSM they both provide management information of applications/software. The HR-MIB does this with respect to the running processes and the installed software in the system. The NSM-MIB shows only a part of this information with the extension of network related issues. The overlap consists only in some general administrative objects describing the application. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 17]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 HR-MIB NSM-MIB hrSWOSIndex applTable applEntry hrSWRunTable applIndex hrSWRunEntry +--- ~ ->applName hrSWRunIndex +----- = ->applDirectoryName hrSWRunName<----------|-+ +- ~ ->applVersion hrSWRunID<------------|-|-+ applUptime hrSWRunPath<----------+ | | applOperStatus hrSWRunParameters | | applLastChange hrSWRunType | | applInboundAssociations | | applOutboundAssociations hrSWInstalledLastChange | | applAccumulatedInboundAssociations | | applAccumulatedOutboundAssociations hrSWInstalledLastUpdateTime | | applLastInboundActivity | | applLastOutboundActivity hrSWInstalledTable | | applRejectedInboundAssociations hrSWInstalledentry | | applFailedOutboundAssociations hrSWInstalledIndex | | applDescription hrSWInstalledName<------+ | applURL hrSWInstalledID<----------+ hrSWInstalledType hrSWInstalledDate Figure 5: Runtime overlap of the HR-MIB and NSM-MIB. 4.4 The World Wide Web MIB and the SYStem APPLication MIB The WWW-MIB is defined at almost the same period as the SYSAPPL-MIB. Therefore, certain objects can be overlapping or redundant. This is due to changes made to the SYSAPPL-MIB. Both MIBs have more groups, but the only groups with some overlap are the "wwwSystem" and the "sysApplInstalled" group. WWW-MIB SYSAPPL-MIB wwwEntityTable sysApplInstalledTable wwwEntityEntry sysApplInstalledEntry wwwEntityDescription<------+ sysApplInstalledIndex wwwEntityContact +--- ~ ---->sysApplInstalledManufacturer wwwEntityProtocol +--- ~ ---->sysApplInstalledProductName wwwEntityProtocolVersion +--- ~ ---->sysApplInstalledVersion wwwEntityName sysApplInstalledSerialNumber wwwEntityAddress sysApplInstalledDate wwwEntityType sysApplInstalledLocation Figure 6: Administrative overlap of the WWW-MIB and SYSAPPL-MIB. As seen above there is no big overlap in information. Only a sort of summarizing object within the WWW-MIB to describe an installed package. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 18]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 4.5 The World Wide Web MIB and the Network Services Monitoring MIB These MIBs are related since they both provide network management information concerning network traffic with a certain underlying services. The Administrative Objects --- -------------- ------- In the tables which describe the general information only the version describing objects can be seen as overlapping. This is not completely true, because an application can have a total different version then its protocol. Also a newer version of an application can still implement the same protocol version. WWW-MIB NSM-MIB wwwEntityTable applTable wwwEntityEntry applEntry wwwEntityDescription<-------+ applIndex wwwEntityContact +--- ~ -->applName wwwEntityProtocol applDirectoryName wwwEntityProtocolVersion<------- ~ -->applVersion wwwEntityName applUptime wwwEntityAddress applOperStatus wwwEntityType applLastChange applInboundAssociations applOutboundAssociations applAccumulatedInboundAs.. applAccumulatedOutboundAs.. applLastInboundActivity applLastOutboundActivity applRejectedInboundAssociations applFailedOutboundAssociations applDescription applURL Figure 7: Administrative overlap of the WWW-MIB and NSM-MIB. The "wwwEntityTable" defines more detail on the networked application. Overlap does not really exists. In the "wwwEntityTable" has every unique transport address The Network Traffic Objects --- ------- ------- ------- The overlap at the network traffic level is far obvious. Within the WWW-MIB a summary table is providing a quick view of the network traffic. This is almost similar to the network information which is provided by the application table of the NSM-MIB. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 19]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 WWW-MIB NSM-MIB wwwSummaryTable applTable wwwSummaryEntry applEntry wwwSummaryInRequests<-------+ applIndex wwwSummaryOutRequest<----------+ applName wwwSummaryRequestErrors<----+ | applDirectoryName wwwSummaryRequestDiscards<--+ | applVersion wwwSummaryInResponses<------+ | applUptime wwwSummaryOutResponses<--------+ applOperStatus wwwSummaryResponseErrors<---+ | applLastChange wwwSummaryResponseDiscards<-+ | applInboundAssociations wwwSummaryInUnknowns<-------+ | applOutboundAssociations wwwSummaryInControlBytes +--|- (sum) ->applAccumulatedInboundAs.. wwwSummaryInContentBytes +- (sum) ->applAccumulatedOutboundAs.. wwwSummaryOutControlBytes applLastInboundActivity wwwSummaryOutContentBytes applLastOutboundActivity wwwSummaryTimeOuts applRejectedInboundAss.. applFailedOutboundAss.. applDescription applURL Figure 8: Network traffic overlap of the WWW-MIB and NSM-MIB. All indexes could be coupled between both MIBs. The difference is that the WWW-MIB is much more detailed information concerning the used document transfer protocol. This is due to the fact that the WWW-MIB describes network management information for the instantiated protocol providing a certain service. On the contrary, the NS-MIB defines the network management information of the provided service and abstract from protocol issues. The relation between the WWW MIB and the NSM MIB isnot very explicit and built on the fact that a certain service is provided both by a protocol and an underlying service ( a stack of protocol layers). Although entities and services are distributed, these MIBs define only information for one specific point (address/ host). To fill the gap for the remote relations/ connections the NSM-MIB has an association table in which the information of the current connections are kept. In a certain way the network service information at a service access point can be seen as a summary of the underlying protocol information. 4.6 The World Wide Web MIB and the Host Resources MIB The overlap between the WWW-MIB and the HR MIB is similar as between the WWW-MIB and the SYSAPPL-MIB. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 20]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 WWW-MIB HR-MIB wwwEntityTable hrSWOSIndex wwwEntityEntry wwwEntityDescription<--------+ hrSWRunTable wwwEntityContact | hrSWRunEntry wwwEntityProtocol<-----------+ hrSWRunIndex wwwEntityProtocolVersion<----+--- ~ ---->hrSWRunName wwwEntityName | hrSWRunID wwwEntityAddress | hrSWRunPath wwwEntityType | hrSWRunParameters | hrSWRunType | hrSWRunStatus | | hrSWInstalledTable | hrSWInstalledEntry | hrSWInstalledIndex +--- ~ ----->hrSWInstalledName hrSWInstalledID hrSWInstalledType hrSWInstalledDate Figure 9: Administrative overlap of the WWW-MIB and HR-MIB. Some way all indexes could be coupled, but the Host Resources Software tables are similar to the system application MIB. Therefore, I propose that no links towards this MIB will be added. If the HR-MIB will be implemented the Software parts (which are optional) will not be implemented. 5. Relationships between managed objects pertaining to different MIBs. Managed objects or groupings of managed objects (such as entries) are sometimes related. The most common technique to relate such objects is indexing. The index is an auxiliar managed object which uniquely identifies a group of objects (entry). If another group of objects is related you can use the same index value and they are all uniquely related. The other technique is the use of pointers which are managed objects referring to a managed object by containing an object identifier or unique `reference' number. This technique can be used if there is a possibility that the referred object/entry doesn't exist. In this section all the index links, pointers within one of the surveyed MIBs or between two of them are described. Mostly these pointers or indexes are quite straightforward, but it provides also great difficulties for agent implementors to implement all the indexes and pointers in the correct way. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 21]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 NOTE: The managed objects preceeded by '*' are indexes and preceeded by an '&' are pointers. The arrows indicate the indexes or pointers between the managed objects. In a table where '(no object)' is used is no object defined there, but the value of the referred object is used. In this internet-draft such links are called 'direct index'. 5.1 The System Application MIB. The SYSAPPL-MIB has no external indexes or pointers. The reason is that the SYSAPPL-MIB is the generic MIB for management of applications. Other MIBs should refer to the SYSAPPL-MIB and the SYSAPPL-MIB in the centre aroung the application specific MIBs should be implemented. The internal indexes shown in the following figure 10. (The MIB prefix "sysAppl" is deleted for the columnar objects) +-------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |sysApplInstallPkgTable | |sysApplInstallElmtTable | +-------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |* InstallPkgIndex |<-----+---<------<------- (no object) | | | ^ +------->* InstallElmtIndex | | | | | | | +-------------------------+ | ^ +-------------------------+ | | ^ | +-------------------------+ | | +-------------------------+ |sysApplRunTable | | ^ |sysApplRunElmtTable | +-------------------------+ | | +-------------------------+ | (no object) ------------>+<------------* ElmtRunInvocID | |* RunIndex | ^ | |* ElmtRunIndex | | | | +-----<----ElmtRunInstallID | +-------------------------+ | ^ +-------------------------+ | | ^ | +-------------------------+ | | +-------------------------+ |sysApplRunPastTable | | ^ |sysApplRunPastElmtTable | +-------------------------+ | | +-------------------------+ | (no object) ------------>+<------------* ElmtPastRunInvocID | |* PastRunIndex | | |* ElmtPastRunIndex | | | +-----<----ElmtPastRunInstallID | +-------------------------+ +-------------------------+ Figure 10: Links within the SYSAPPL-MIB. As the figure above shows, all indexes (except one) are made with pointers. The reason for this is that in the RunTables and RunPastTables every process should be shown and if possible grouped by application. The direct index is only possible between the "sysApplInstallPackageTable" and the "sysApplInstallElementTable" because it is not required that every process is registered within an "sysApplInstallPackageTable". Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 22]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 A problem with this MIB (especially under an implementing point of view) is the grouping of the elements into a composite application. This could be done by reading the element organisation from a configuration file. The configuration file should also provide the information on what element is from which application during runtime. The element could be a part of an already started application (an entry already exists in the "sysApplRunTable") or a complete new application (a new entry has to be inserted in the "sysApplRunTable"). 4.2 The WWW-MIB. The WWW-MIB is a specific MIB of a network and distributed application. Therefore, this MIB is linked with the NSM-MIB in order to provide the application specific (detailed) information. | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |applTable | | |wwwEntityTable | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |* applIndex |<--------+--<-- * <--------(no object) | | | ^ | | +------------------------+ | | +-------------------------+ NSM-MIB | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + | | +------------------------+ ^ +-------------------------+ |wwwSummaryTable | | |wwwRequestTable | +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ | (no object) ----->----->+<-----<------- (no object) | | | | |* wwwRequestIndex | | | | | | +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ | +------------------------+ ^ +-------------------------+ |wwwResponseTable | | |wwwDocNameTable | +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ | (no object) ----->----->+<-----<------- (no object) | |* wwwResponseIndex | | |* wwwDocNameName | | | | +-------> wwwDocNameIndex | +------------------------+ | | +-------------------------+ | | +------------------------+ ^ | |wwwDocTable | | | +------------------------+ | | | (no object) ----->----->+ | | (no object) ----->----------+ |* wwwDocTimeFilter | | | +------------------------+ Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 23]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 Figure 11: Links within the WWW-MIB. As figure 11 shows, the WWW MIB is defined with using the index of the NSM MIB. To implement the WWW MIB you need information from the NSM MIB since the tables of the WWW MIB are indexed by the "applIndex". This is no problem if both MIBs are implemented within an agent, but what happens if only the WWW MIB will be implemented? How will the index of the tables be uniquely defined? Questions such as "May I choose my own index number?" or "Is it required to implement the NSM-MIB?" can be raised. No concrete answer based on arguments consistent with the SNMP framework documents can be given. 5.3 The Network Service Monitoring MIB This MIB does not have pointers to other MIBs, due to its generic nature for management of networked applications. Compared with the SYSAPPL-MIB the NSM-MIB is much simpler, consisting only of two tables. One of the tables provides more detailed information on the application and the other tables provides the associations with remote (other) applications. Figure 11 shows the internal linking structure of the NSM-MIB. +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |applTable | |assocTable | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |* applIndex |<----------<------<--------(no object) | | | |* assocIndex | | | | | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ Figure 12: Links within the NSM MIB. 5.4 The X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB. This MIB consists of three tables providing application specific information for a networked and distributed application. Therefore, the DSA MIB is connected to the NSM-MIB through the "applIndex". Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 24]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |applTable | | |dsaOpsTable | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |* applIndex |<--------+--<-----<--------(no object) | | | ^ | | +------------------------+ | | +-------------------------+ NSM-MIB | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + | | +------------------------+ ^ +-------------------------+ |dsaEntriesTable | | |dsaIntTable | +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ | (no object) --->------->+<------<------ (no object) | | | |* dsaIntIndex | | | | | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ Figure 12: Links within the DSA MIB. The implementation of the DSA MIB is prone to the same pitfalls as the WWW MIB. 5.5 The Host Resources MIB relations. The Host resources MIB was one of the first MIBs for management of applications or software on a host. It is generic and has almost no external pointers. The only external pointer not internal for this MIB is the "hrNetworkIfIndex", referring to the "ifIndex" of the IF-MIB. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 25]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The hardware groups --- -------- ------ +-------------------------+ |hrDeviceTable | +---------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |hsSystemInitialLoadDevice ------->+--------->* hrDeviceIndex | +---------------------------+ | | | | +-------------------------+ | +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ |hrStorageTable | | |hrNetworkTable | +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ | (no object) --------->---->+<------------ (no object) | | index of table <-------+ | +------> hrNetworkIfIndex | +------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------+ | | | | | | +------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------+ |hrProcessorTable | | | | |hrDiskStorageTable | +------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------+ | (no object) --------->-|-->+<--|--------- (no object) | | | | ^ ^ | | +------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------+ | | | +------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------+ |hrPrinterTable | | | | |hrPartitionTable | +------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------+ | (no object) --------->-|-->+<--|--------- (no object) | | | | | |* hrPartitionIndex | | | | +---|------> hrPartitionFSIndex | +------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------+ | | | | | | + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +------------------------+ | | | IF-MIB |hrFSTable | | | | | +-------------------------+ +------------------------+ | | | |interfaceTable | |* hrFSIndex <---------|---+ | | +-------------------------+ | hrFSStorageIndex --------->+ +------* ifIndex | | | | | | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ | Figure 13: Links of the hardware groups within the HR MIB. Figure 13 shows a lot of links of indexes within the HR MIB. These links are quite straigthforward, except the "hrNetworkIfIndex". The "hrNetworkIfIndex" links the network devices with the interfaces defined in the "iftable". Due to this two-step link of a Device -> Network Device -> Interface, there is no requirement for the "ifTable" to be implemented. In case the "iftable" is not implemented the "hrNetworktable" can be left as not implemented. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 26]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 The software groups --- -------- ------ +-------------------------+ |hrSWRunPerfTable | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |hrSWOSIndex ------------>+----------->*hrSWRunIndex | +------------------------+ | | | | +-------------------------+ ^ +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ |hrSWRunPerfTable | | |hrSWInstalledTable | +------------------------+ | +-------------------------+ | (no object) ------------>+ |* hrSWInstalledIndex | | | | | +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ Figure 14: Links of the software within the HR MIB. The above figure shows that there are a few links between the tables and that no connection is made to other MIBs. Therefore, the software groups can be implemented without big difficulties, not requiring instrumentation of other MIBs, whether or not available. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 27]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 5. Conclusions This section presents the major conclusions found during this study. The study analysed the currently existing MIBs defined in IETF WGs which can be used for application management. The investigated MIBs were: * the SYSAPPL-MIB, * the WWW MIB, * the NSM-MIB, * the DSA-MIB, * the HR-MIB, and * the RDBMS-MIB. The objective of the analyses was to identify: a) the contents of the MIBs, b) the duplications and the overlaps of the MIBs, and c) the indexing scheme of the MIBs. The NSM-MIB --- ------- Although a definition of a networked application in the NSM-MIB is provided, but it defines not properly a service on which the definition depends. Questions like `Is a networked application only listening to one single transport address or listening to multiple?' or `What mapping into the "applTable" has to be used in case of a networked application using the "multi-home-host" approach?' can be raised. This last question presents an arbitrary choice for MIB implementors to define the "applTable" entries for such a networked application. For example, a "multi-homed-host" with a networked application can be defined in one entry, but also in multiple entries. It is not even required that in case of multiple host and entries the relation is 1:1. SYSAPPL MIB overlapping the HR MIB software groups ------- --- ----------- --- -- --- -------- ------ The managed objects in the software groups of the HR MIB are almost completely overlap by the newer SYSAPPL MIB. Although the HR MIB is more process oriented, this information can extracted from the SYSAPPL MIB which even combines the processes into a coherent application. Linking with other MIBs ------- ---- ----- ---- There are two general approaches in linking objects across different MIBs. The first approach is to define an object which contain a value, object identifier (OID) of the refered object. This approach is simple and even possible to use whenever the referred object is not defined in the SNMP agent, where the zero pointer can be used. The second approach is to use Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 28]
INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 the value of the referred object as an index (is in this draft called a "direct index"). This approach is more consistent since links are uniquely defined. On the contrary, it raises problems when the referred object is not implemented in the SNMP agent. In such a case, the referred index cannot be discovered and the agent implementor has to make his own decision regarding the index values. Mapping between the SYSAPPL-MIB and the NSM-MIB ------- ------- --- ----------- --- --- ------- Nowadays two 'major' MIBs, SYSAPPL-MIB and NSM-MIB, are available for application management. Both claim to be generic and could, therefore, be used as platform to hook on other application specific MIBs. The definition of an application within the SYSAPPL-MIB is: "An application is one or more units of executable code and other resources, installed on a single host system that a manager may think of as a single object for management purposes." The definition of an application (or networked application) within the NSM-MIB is not really defined, but implicit within the draft as: "A networked application is a unit (executable code) within a single host which operates in conjunction with other units over a network." Unfortunately, the mapping between both types of applications is not well and uniquely defined. This is what we directly see taking WWW-servers as an example. Normally, the mapping between an application in the SYSAPPL-MIB and an application in the NSM-MIB should be no problem. However, when using virtual hosts on a single machine the application components are going to behave very differently. WWW-servers, like Apache, is one application (as seen from a SYSAPPL-MIB point of view), but it are also multiple networked applications (as seen from a NSM-MIB point of view) by using virtual hosts. Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 29]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 6. References [] McCloghrie, K., and M. Rose, Editors, "Management Information Base for Network Management of TCP/IP-based internets: MIB- II", STD 17, RFC 1213, Hughes LAN Systems, Performance Systems International, March 1991. [] Grillo, P., and S. Waldbusser, "Host Resources MIB", RFC 1514, Network Innovations, Intel Corporation, Carnegie Mellon University, September 1993 [] Kille, S., and N. Freed, "Network Services Monitoring MIB", RFC 1565, ISODE Consortium, Innosoft, January 1994 [] Saperia, J., C. Krupczak, R. Sturm, and J. Weinstock, "Definition of Managed Objects for Applications", draft-ietf-applmib-sysapplmib-06.txt, BGS Systems, Empire Technologies, Enterprise Management Professional Services, Bellcore, May 1996 [] Kalbfleisch, C., Hazewinkel, H., Schoenwaelder, J., "Definitions of Managed Objects for WWW Servers", draft-ietf-applmib-wwwmib-00.txt, December 1996. [] Krupczak, C. and S. Waldbusser, "Applicability of Host Resources MIB to Application Management", Empire Technologies, Inc., International Network Services, October 1995. [] Kille, S., and N. Freed, "Mail Monitoring MIB", RFC 1566, ISODE Consortium, Innosoft, January 1994 [] Mansfield, G., and S. Kille, "X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB", RFC 1567, AIC Systems Laboratory, ISODE Consortium, January 1994 [] Mansfield, G., and S. Kille, "X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB", RFC 1567, AIC Systems Laboratory, ISODE Consortium, January 1994 [] brower, D., Purvy, B., Daniel, A., Sinykin, M., Smith, J., "Relational Database management System (RDBMS) Management Information Base (MIB) using SMIv2", RFC1697, INGRES DBMS Development, August 1994. [] Kalbfleisch, C., "Applicability of Standards Track MIBs to Management of World Wide Web Servers", RFC-2039, OnRamp Technologies, November 1996 Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 30]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 7. Author's address Harrie Hazewinkel postal: CEO Programme Joint Research Centre of the E.C TP 950 21020 Ispra Italy email: harrie.hazewinkel@jrc.it www: http://porto.jrc.it/~harrie Expires July 31, 1997 [Page 31]
^L INTERNET-DRAFT draft-hazewinkel-appl-mib-00.txt January 27, 1996 8. Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................2 1. Introduction ..........................................................3 1.1 How to read this internet draft ......................................3 2. The Working Groups of Application Related MIBs ........................4 3. The application related MIBs ..........................................5 3.1 The System Application MIB ...........................................5 3.2 The World Wide Web MIB ...............................................6 3.3 The Network Services Monitoring MIB ..................................8 3.4 The X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB ...................................8 3.5 The Host Resources MIB ...............................................9 3.5 The Relational Database Management System MIB .......................11 4. The overlapping objects of the MIBs ..................................13 4.1 The SYStem APPLication MIB and the Host Resources MIB ...............13 4.2 The SYStem APPLication MIB and the Network Services Monitoring MIB ..15 4.3 The Host Resource MIB and Network Services Monitoring MIB ...........17 4.4 The World Wide Web MIB and the SYStem APPLication MIB ...............18 4.5 The World Wide Web MIB and the Network Services Monitoring MIB ......19 4.6 The World Wide Web MIB and the Host Resources MIB ...................20 5. Relationships between managed objects pertaining to different MIBs ...21 5.1 The System Application MIB ..........................................22 5.2 The World Wide Web MIB ..............................................23 5.3 The Network Service Monitoring MIB ..................................24 5.4 The X.500 Directory Monitoring MIB .................................24 4.5 The Host Resources MIB relations ...................................25 5. Conclusions ..........................................................28 6. References ...........................................................30 7. Author's address .....................................................31 8. Table of Contents ....................................................32