Conference azur::mcc

4988.0. "SNMP boxes with multiple paths, multiple addresses" by CSOADM::ROTH (you just KEEP ME hangin' on...) Sun May 02 1993 19:11

A question about how to best enter multipathed, multi-addressed SNMP box
networks into DECmcc. (See diagram below)


                    CHARLIE                      DELTA
               |   +------+                     +------+
               +---+1    2+---------------------+2    1+------------
               |   |      |                     |     3+-----+
               |   +------+                     +------+     |
                                                             |
                                                             |
    |     ALPHA                                  BRAVO       |
    |   +------+                                +------+     |        |
    +---+1    2+--------------------------------+2    4+-----+        |
    |   |     3+--------------------------------+3 5  1+--------------+
    |   +------+                                +--+---+              |
    |                                              |                  |
    |                                              +--------+
    +--------------[DECmcc station]                         |   
    |                                                       |   
    |     ECHO                                  FOXTROT     |   
    |   +------+                                +------+    |   
    +---+1    2+--------------------------------+2     |    |   
    |   |      |                                | 1   3+----+
    |   +------+                                +-+----+
                                                  |
                                                  |


All interfaces numbered '1' are Ethernets, the others are Serial interfaces.

Each interface has its own unique IP address.

ALPHA and ECHO are in the same domain.

BRAVO and FOXTROT are in the same domain.

All other boxes are in separate domains.


Here are some typical trap scenarios:

Box CHARLIE is an 'end' router.
Box CHARLIE reboots, issues COLDSTART trap with IP address of Interface 2.
Box CHARLIE then sends out LINKUP trap with IP address of Interface 1.

Box BRAVO is a 'hub' router.
Box BRAVO sends out traps using IP address of Interface 1,2 or 3 depending
on network link conditions of BRAVO and other links.


Questions:

1) How can I have a sensible graphical representation of an SNMP box (and
   network) when, in actuality, I have to enter multiple interfaces (under
   different addresses) in order accomodate all possible IP addresses of
   the traps?

2) How can one sensibly write alarm rules to handle this plethora of SNMP
   entities *WITHOUT* using wildcard rules (which are giving me fits, see
   note 4576.x). Bear in mind I am trying to have rule firings result in
   external notifications (paging).

3) I want to depict Interfaces from each box as 'child entities'. How do
   I correctly do this when I have multiple SNMP entities?

4) Should I abandon DECmcc and try Polycenter SNMP manager 300 (formerly
   called MSU)? Would it handle this any better? Will it allow me to
   create statistical-based rules to monitor performance and error rates
   snmp links as DECmcc will? Does it support child entities?

Any suggestions on how to implement/represent this kind of IP network
setup in DECmcc? This was all quite simplier in pre-V1.3 when I did not
have problems with wildcard rules falsely firing.

Observation/Suggestion:

Multi-pathed networks are simple to reference when 1 address works for
an entire box (like NODE4 entities). DECmcc/SNMP seems to be written
from this mindset (1 box=1 address) but in reality it is a RUDE world
out there with multiple IP addresses per SNMP box.

What would be NICE is to be able to enter a list of IP addresses when
registering an SNMP entity rather than being locked into a single
address. Then I could write a single rule for the entire snmp box
rather than having to write a rule for each interface with its own unique
name.

Lee

>> Each interface has its own unique IP address.

	This means you'd need to have separate icons for each interface.
	I know I am stating the obvious, but I needed to let you know
	what you might be dealing with.

	Rahul.