| Server Management software is all-too often on the | | | | network. It could be a message about something |
| light side when it comes to integrating with fault | | | | happening on the local system, or something a |
| management solutions, often sending just generic | | | | neighbor heard about another system. Really, the sky |
| SNMP Traps and not including an enterprise MIB. | | | | is the limit and the software as well as the enterprise |
| Because of this lack of SNMP MIB support, many | | | | MIB gives the agent the ability to encode interesting |
| servers are less capable of sending critical information | | | | information into traps so they then can be sent to |
| to a network or fault management platform that is | | | | interested managers. |
| standing by ready and willing to act on their desperate | | | | Thankfully, there are several vendors out there that do |
| pleas for help. In this way, would-be attackers and | | | | in fact write interesting MIBs and provide good solid |
| unforeseen issues like disk utilization problems often go | | | | agents that can provide this useful information, either |
| unseen. Interestingly enough, the largest maker of | | | | solicited by using an SNMP poller, or unsolicited, by |
| computer software, Microsoft, has just generic MIB | | | | using traps. Both IBM and DELL have agents which do |
| support in their default SNMP agent, thereby rendering | | | | a really good job at this. And there is also a freeware |
| these agents fairly useless when it comes time to | | | | agent, called NetSNMP, which can be used on a |
| send some serious information to a management | | | | variety of platforms, and has good, solid coverage. So |
| system. So this means that the majority of the | | | | all it takes is a little research, and one can find an |
| computer systems in the world do not have adequate | | | | affordable (or free) agent, that can be installed on their |
| abilities to send unsolicited critical information. | | | | servers, and then these servers will be able to provide |
| What are SNMP Traps? These little nuggets of | | | | the critical information that is needed in order to |
| computer encoded instructions tell a management | | | | adequately manage a heterogeneous server farm. |
| system about issues happening somewhere on the | | | | |