NETWORK

MANAGEMENT
PROTOCOLS

Network Management Protocols 1

 Abstract
Today’s enterprises depend on information, in ever increasing amounts. It must be

communicated accurately, securely, and quickly.8 Network management is a critical part of

this communication process. SNMP, CMIP and DMI are three foundational protocols that

are choices for the infrastructure of every medium to large organization, impacting the

security, timeliness and complexity of information management.

Although there have been many new protocols introduced into the market, it seems

that advantages over the original SNMP come with a large price. Security issues are solved,

better management of the network is implemented, but the complexity and massive network

modifications make the alternatives unattractive. This situation leaves network managers

with a people-intensive process of managing the information in an organization.

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 What is Network Management?

Network management usually refers to the management of a network's physical infrastructure: hubs,

switches, routers, and gateways1. It can formally be defined as the controlling of a complex data network so

as to maximize its efficiency and productivity2 that involves active and passive monitoring of network

resources for the purpose of troubleshooting, detecting potential problems, improving performance,

documentation, and reporting.

The International Organization for Standards has defined Network Management as consisting of five key

areas. 3 These areas and their underlying functions are listed below:

1. Fault Management - Detects and corrects faults in the network.

2. Configuration Management - Views and manages system resources and management information.

3. Security Management - Detects and corrects faults in the network.

4. Performance Management - Monitors and tunes network performance.

5. Accounting Management - Monitors and charges for network usage.

Network Management Protocols 2

 1.2 What is a protocol?
In information technology, a protocol (pronounced PROH-tuh-cahl, from the Greek protocollon, which was a

leaf of paper glued to a manuscript volume, describing its contents) is a special set of rules that apply to both

of the end points of a telecommunication connection when they communicate. Protocols exist at several

levels in commonly accepted seven-layer model of a telecommunication connection and the TCP/IP model

shown in Figure 1. Both end points within these models must recognize and observe a protocol.

Figure 1: OSI Seven Layer Model and TCP/IP Model Relationship

1.3 Common network management protocols

Protocols are often described in an industry or international standard. Some of the common network

management protocols, their acronyms and what functions they perform are illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1: Network Management Protocols4

Protocol Name Protocol Acronym What the Protocol Does

A set of communication
protocols that support peer-to-
Transmission Control
TCP/IP peer connectivity functions for
Protocol/Internet Protocol
both local and wide area
networks.
SNMP enables managers to
ask agents to retrieve and
change information about
Simple Network Management network devices. Because
SNMP
Protocol SNMP has low network
overhead, it is an inexpensive
way to gather network
statistics. It is also ideal for

Network Management Protocols 3

 real-time monitoring.
CMIP was designed to
Common Management manage OSI networks, but it
CMIP
Information Protocol can also be used in other kinds
of networks.
CMOT can monitor and
Common Management
manage networks that use the
Information Protocols over CMOT
CMIP protocols in
TCP/IP
combination with TCP/IP.
An open system is one that
complies with industry-wide
standards for communication.
Open Systems Interconnection OSI Open systems can be
connected to other open
systems that comply with the
same standards.
A suite of operational and
Common Management notification services used for
CMIS
Information Services the management of systems.
CMIP is the CMIS protocol.
A suite of operational and
Common Management notification services used for
CMIS
Information Services the management of systems.
CMIP is the CMIS protocol.
Desktop Management DMI is used to manage PC
DMI
Interface and server systems.

1.4 The Development of Network Management Protocols

Network management protocols were developed so that the process of network management could be

automated as much as possible. Some mainstream protocols are SNMP (Simple Network Management

Protocol), CMIP (Common Management Information Protocol) and DMI (Desktop Management Interface).

SNMP works under the TCP/IP (Transport Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol) communication stack, CMIP

works under the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) communication stack,3 and DMI is a standard overseen

by the DMTF (Desktop Management Task Force) and is used to manage PC and server systems.5

SNMP was designed in the 1980's as an answer to the communication problems between different types of

networks. Its initial aim was to be a "band-aid" solution until a better designed and more complete network

manager became available. However, no better choice became available and SNMP became the network

management protocol of choice.

Network Management Protocols 4

 CMIP is a very well designed network management system that improves on many of SNMP's weaknesses.

CMIP was designed to build on the initial SNMP design and aimed at becoming a bigger, more detailed

network manager that provides greater control over a network by a systems administrator. The CMIP

protocol was supposed to be the protocol that replaced SNMP in the late 1980's. Funded by governments

and large corporations, many thought that it would become a reality because of its almost unlimited

development budget. However, problems with its implementation delayed its widespread availability and it

is now only available in a limited form from its developers.3

The DMI protocol is a set of interfaces and a service provider that mediates between network management

applications and components residing in a system. The DMI is a freestanding interface that is not tied to any

particular operating system or management process. Unlike SNMP which is network oriented, DMI is locally

oriented. It was designed to provide intrinsic manageability to the desktop regardless of whether it is on a

network. Because it provides intrinsic manageability, DMI allows easy connectivity to SNMP management

console applications.6

The following figure demonstrates how these three protocols SNMP, CMIP and DMI are utilized by most

organizations to connect its physical managed objects to its standard infrastructure. This is important because

a consistent view of the managed environment results in an ability to manage the business rather than just its

components.

Figure 2: Utilization of Protocols by Organizations13

Network Management Protocols 5

 2 SNMP

2.1 How SNMP is used

SNMP is a protocol designed to manage TCP/IP networks. It gives a user the capability to remotely manage

a computer network by polling and setting terminal values and monitoring network events. SNMP is

composed of 3 elements: the MIB (management information base), the manager, and the agent.3

SNMP is used to manage a variety of network resources including hardware products such as servers,

printers, PCs, or networking products, or software such as the Windows NT operating system or a database

application. Using SNMP management systems, network administrators can browse the configuration of a

device, monitor collected variables such as network packet counts, or receive SNMP "traps", a message sent

from the agent to the manager when an "event", such as a power failure occurs in a system. 7

The information the SNMP can obtain from a network is defined as the MIB. The MIB is structured like a

tree. At the top of the tree is the most general information available about a network. Each branch of the

tree gets more detailed into the specific network area, with the leaves of the tree being the most specific the

MIB can get. For instance, devices may be a parent in the tree, and its children could be the serial port

devices and parallel port devices.

The agent runs off of each node on the network. It collects network and terminal information as

specified in the MIB. The manager is located on the host computer on the network. Its main role is

to poll the agents for certain requested information using the TCP/IP User Datagram Protocol

(UDP), an unacknowledged connectionless transport system.3

Figure 3: The SNMP Architecture1

Network Management Protocols 6

 2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of SNMP
The following table outlines the major advantages and disadvantages associated with the popular

network management protocol developed in the 1970’s to manage the large networks called

Internets.

Table 2: Advantages/Disadvantages of SNMP

Advantages Disadvantages
• Its simple design makes it easy to • Poor security that allows unauthorized users to
implement access management agents or intercept
• Not too stressful on an existing network commands1
• SNMP is widely used • Since UDP exchanges are unacknowledged, the
management agent receives no confirmation that
communications have successfully reached the
management console
• Easy to update • Too simple – provides information that is not
detailed or organized enough3
• Easily Expandable to meet increased • Generates a lot of network traffic as it polls
needs devices for status information

3 CMIP

3.1 How CMIP is used

CMIP was designed to manage Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) networks, but can also be used in other

kinds of networks. OSI uses the ISO 7 layer network communication model shown in Figure 1. The

Common Management Information Services Element (CMISE) application resides in the seventh or

application layer. CMISE works hand-in-hand with CMIP. The purpose of CMISE is to transfer network

management information from one system to another. 9 CMIP then maps every CMISE operation to a remote

CMIP operation.

For example, to set a terminal’s IP address, a CMISE service element M-SET would be sent, and it would

call the CMIP operation M-SET to set the terminal’s information. In all cases, it is CMISE that summons

CMIP to set (or get) the desired information. It is CMIP, and not CMISE, that releases the protocol data

units (PDU’s). On the receiving end it is CMIP that translates the terminal’s response and CMISE that

reports this to the user.7

Network Management Protocols 7

 3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of CMIP

Table 3: Advantages/Disadvantages of CMIP

Advantages Disadvantages
• Protocol variables can perform more • Only the best equipped networks can afford
complicated tasks to run it because is has become such a large
• More efficient network management system and complete management system
• Built in security management capabilities • Massive network modifications is necessary
that support authorization, access control, to handle a full implementation of CMIP1
and security logs1
• Superior to SNMP in both design and • There is no inexpensive workaround
operation

4 DMI

4.1 How DMI is used

DMI is an industry framework for managing and keeping track of hardware and software components in a

system of personal computers from a central location. DMI was created by the Desktop Management Task

Force (DMTF) to automate system management and is particularly beneficial in a network computing

environment where dozens or more computers are managed. The DMTF is the industry organization that is

leading the development, adoption and unification of management standards and initiatives for desktop,

network, enterprise and Internet environments.10

DMI is hardware and operating system-independent, independent of specific management protocol, easy for

vendors to adopt, mappable to existing management protocols such as SNMP or CMIP, and used on network

and non-network computers. DMI consists of four components:

• Management Information Format (MIF): An MIF is a text file that contains specific information

about the hardware and software being used on a computer

• Service layer: The service layer is memory-resident code that acts as a mediator for the

management interface and the component interface and allows management and component software

to access MIF files in the MIF database.

• Component interface (CI): The CI is an application program interface (API) that sends status

information to the appropriate MIF file via the service layer.

Network Management Protocols 8

 • Management interface (MI): The management software communicates with the service layer using

the MI application program interface.11

Figure 4: DMI Architecture12

4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of DMI

Table 4: Advantages/Disadvantages of DMI

Advantages Disadvantages
• DMI architecture provides a standard • Applications capable of managing both
interface between management applications DMI- and SNMP-enabled systems have
and locally managed hardware and software only recently emerged
components
• DMI has become the most widely used client
management standard today
• MIF database resides on the managed system
and can be browsed remotely by the
management application1

5 SNMP AND DMI INTERACTION

Figure 5 shows the similarities between DMI and SNMP management. In both DMI and SNMP,

management applications send commands and status inquiries to software agents who return responses and

send alerts to management applications. Each device is made manageable through hardware instrumentation,

software agents, and management databases (MIFs or MIBs). The diagram also illustrates the types of

devices typically managed using DMI and SNMP.

Network Management Protocols 9

 The top two layers of the pyramid, enterprise and network infrastructure, are characterized by a wide variety

of managed devices for which SNMP is the dominant management standard and CMIP is an alternative

standard. At the PC LAN level, the server and desktop layers in the pyramid, proprietary standards have

tended to dominate, but DMI has emerged as an industry standard. There is some overlap between the DMI

and SNMP standards at the server level. Generally, SNMP is used by server management tools to

communicate with enterprise tools. DMI is used to manage hardware and software configurations on

individual PC-based server, desktop, and portable systems.

Figure 5: Similarities between DMI and SNMP1

Using DMI-to-SNMP mapping tools, it is possible to manage DMI desktops from SNMP-based

enterprise systems management applications. The DMTF released version 1.0 of the DMI-to-

SNMP mapping specification defines mapping procedures that allow DMI systems to be remotely

and uniformly managed using SNMP.

The overlap between SNMP and DMI with respect to today’s networks is shown in Figure 6. The

overlap occurs at the server layer with SNMP not interacting with the desktop layer.

Network Management Protocols 10

 Figure 6: How SNMP and DMI fit into today's networks

6 INCORPORATION OF PROTOCOLS BY NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOLS

The following two figures are illustrations of HP’s OpenView and Solstice’s EAR architectures that

demonstrate how the common network protocols have been included within these applications to

provide transparent access to business system architectures.

Figure 7: HP OpenView Architecture16

Network Management Protocols 11

 Figure 8: Solstice Enterprise Agent Runtime Architecture23

Network management tools use these common network management protocols within their systems

in a variety of different ways. Table 5 shows some specific implementations of SNMP, DMI, and

CMIP within three popular network management tools:

• HP’s OpenView

• IBM’s Tivoli

• Sun Microsystems’s Solstice

Network Management Protocols 12

 Table 5: Implementation of SNMP, DMI, and CMIP within Network Management Tools

OPENVIEW TIVOLI SOLSTICE

• Uses HP OpenView • IBM network management is
Extensible SNMP Agent implemented on several
platforms (NetView, LAN
• Controls basic network
devices and critical systems
Network Manager (LNM), • Master-subagent
and SNMP)26 Architecture
• Manage applications,
• Tivoli NetView uses • Solstice Enterprise Agents
printers, users, and databases
Standard MIBs and (SEA) technology
• configure new SNMP
objects without
Enterprise-specific MIBs • SEA runtime environment
(monitor and control vendor consists of various SNMP
programming 17
SNMP devices)27 and DMI-based components
• support of all types of MIB
• All Token-ring adapters (Master Agent, Subagent,
objects
provide a Tivoli Mapper, Service Provider,
• generate user-defined SNMP Management Agent and MI, CI, and MIF)
traps support SNMP • SEA technology provides a
• SF_SNMP Suppressor 1.0 management29 Software Development Kit
suppresses duplicate traps18
• For each trap, Tivoli (SDK) to manage different
• SNMP Security Pack allows NetView generates and subsystems, components,
for security with Network sends an event to registered and applications
Node Manager 19 applications27 • SDK uses the SNMP, the
• HP DMI Manager allows DMI, and the Remote
• Tivoli Inventory profile
administrators to easily Procedure Call (RPC) to
distribution can read any
retrieve DMI information develop subagents quickly
MIF file that adheres to the
• Information can be retrieved and effectively 23
Desktop Management Task
from multiple DMI enabled • SDK translates DMI's MIF
DMI Force (DMTF)28
PCs21 files into SNMP's MIB
• All Token-ring adapters
• Using DMI, HP Toptools format
provide a Tivoli
can also provide
Management Agent and
management services for
support DMI 2.029
non-HP systems22
• Component in Solstice
Telecommunications
Management Network
(TMN)
• Lowers the cost of agent
• HP OpenView deployment through direct
• Tivoli NetView applications
Communications/Service support of TCP/IP24
and menu items issue the
CMIP Assurance (OVC/Assurance) • Applications developed
CMIP protocols Set and
translates different protocols using the Solstice CMIP
Get27
into CMIP format20 SDE (Standard Development
Environment) can access
CMIS services as Solstice
implements both
• Solstice TMN/SNMP Q-
Adaptor25

Network Management Protocols 13

 7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

For the majority of business applications, it is seems reasonable that SNMP should be adopted when there is

a choice between SNMP and CMIP. Although CMIP is superior in design and function, it is not widely used

because it requires a large amount of system resources to run, and it is difficult to implement and program.

SNMP is by far the most commonly used network management protocol. It is simple to install and use, does

not require many system resources, and many companies, such as Sun, HP and IBM, have developed

solutions that address the security weaknesses and excess network traffic created by polling.

These solutions have been made possible because of SNMP’s extendable design. Many network management

companies have extended this protocol to become more secure, able to generate user-defined traps and

manage multiple applications and other hardware devices, as well as support all types of MIB objects. This

has made SNMP more robust in its use and application within these network management tools and has

extended its lifespan far beyond what its original creators thought it would last. Its many advantages have

made it a leader in an industry with many other more sophisticated competing protocols. In Hollywood, the

sequels seldom outperform the original. And so it is with SNMP14.

To make SMNP easier to use, it is recommended that the user purchase or download a graphical network

manager, such as IBM’s Netview or HP’s OpenView. There are also other good shareware network

managers that enable the user to generate alerts, process commands, and host communications.

Tied to SNMP, DMI is recommended as the protocol for PCs and server systems. There are other desktop

network management protocols, but DMI has become the industry standard and it is recommended DMI be

adopted for the majority of business applications.

Network Management Protocols 14

 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY
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2. Fang, Karen and Allan Leinwand. Network Management: A Practical Perspective. (Addison-
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8. The Effects of Downtime on Profits and Productivity
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11. SearchNetworking.com Definitions
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13. DTMF: Making WMI Work For You
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Network Management Protocols 15