Network Management Protocols and Applications

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Network Management Protocols and Applications

• Cliff Leach
• Mike Looney
• Danny Mar
• Monty Maughon

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Simple Network Management Protocol

• a.k.a. SNMP
• Most widely used network management protocol
• Designed in 1988 based on SGMP
• Router management protocol
• Allows management of network devices

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What Does SNMP need?

• Managed Networking Devices
• Routers, Switches, UPS, and Servers
• Devices must support SNMP
• Typically manageable devices support SNMP
• Operating Systems have SNMP services available

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How Does SNMP Work?

• Agents
• Collects data about the network device.
• Manager
• Processes the collected data and stores it in a
  database called Management
• Information Base (MIB)
• Protocol Data Unit
• The data that is collected and transferred
  between Agents and Managers

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Common Management Interface Protocol

• Used by Large Companies
• Supports all layers of the OSI model
• Costly to implement and takes more time
• Has More control than SNMP

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Remote Monitoring Protocol

• Standard MIB for monitoring network usage and
  network
• troubleshooting
• First defined in 1992 by IETF called RFC 1271
• Replaced by RFC 1757 standard in 1995
• Define objects and statistics for network
  administrators to analyze
• network
• Console managers and probes on the network must
  be RMON compliant

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RMON Grouping Elements

• Organized into nine optional groups that rely on
  each other
• Although they are optional, few of the groups
  need support from other groups in order to
  function
• Some groups can stand alone, but others depend
  on other groups
• Nine Groups
• Statistics, History, Alarm, Host, HostTopN,
  Matrix, Filters, Packet Capture, and Events

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Multi-Router Traffic Grapher

• Network Management Application
• Works on UNIX, Windows, and MAC OS 10.1
• systems
• First Published in 1995

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How does MRTG work?

• Consists of a PERL script
• Uses SNMP to read traffic counters and C program
  to log network traffic
• Creates Graphs in GIF format
• Represents the traffic monitored on a network
  connection
• Embedded into web pages and can be viewed by any
  web browser

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How does MRTG work?

• Creates visual representations of network
  traffic
• Logs its data to an ASCII file
• Log file is constantly being consolidated

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Other Advantages

• Not just limited to monitoring network traffic
• Monitors system loads, login sessions, modem
• availability

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Problems

• Scalability and Portability
• Released Version 2.0 in January 1997
• Faster and more user-friendly
• Maintains its log files more efficiently

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Issues with MRTG 2.0

• Had performance and flexibility problems
• People are monitoring non-traffic sources
• Led to the development of Version 3.0

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LANWatch 32

• Well suited for basic analysis, however more
• complex tasks are difficult
• Monitors network traffic in real time

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Features

• Easy-to-use interface with pull-down menus
• Graphic display of detailed network statistics
• Decodes over 60 network protocols, including
• TCP
• UDP
• IP
• IPv6
• Provides over 400 filters to isolate network
  traffic
• Software-based, easily portable to remote sites

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Sample Screenshot