Cisco Network Mgmt Protocol FAQ: The Basic Ingredients of Network Management
Q1. Name the two contexts in which the term agent is used in network management.
2) The management agent—that is, the software component of a network element that implements a management interface and handles management communication for the network element.
Q2. Compare the manager/agent and client/server paradigms. What are the commonalities, and what are the differences?
Q3. The chapter stated that a network element can contain more than one management agent and that a management agent can contain embedded management intelligence. Taking these statements literally can lead to the conclusion that the same management intelligence might have to be implemented redundantly in a network element, once for each management agent. Clearly, this would be a wasteful approach. What would be an appropriate refinement of the model of a management agent?
Q4. Explain the term MIB—what does the acronym stand for, what is it, and who provides it?
Q5. Name one difference between a MIB and a database.
Q6. Tell whether the following statement is true: “If a network is required to have availability of 99.999 percent, its management systems need to also be 99.999 percent available.” Why or why not? Please elaborate. For extra points, factor in the influence of the type of application that the management system is used for.
Q7. Management traffic is different from other communication traffic, in that the NE itself is a destination and originator of traffic. However, it is not the only type of traffic for which this is true. Name an example of other network traffic that the NE does not just switch or route, but actively participates in.
Q8. What could be the most important reason for using a dedicated management network instead of a shared one?
9. Which other term do service providers use to refer to management systems?
10. Would you expect a management system to provision services to be located at a NOC or at a Central Office? Why?
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