SMC Networks SMC TigerStack III SMC6824MPE - Manual (Page 95)

C
ONFIGURING
SNMP
3-45
Managed devices supporting SNMP contain software, which runs locally
on the device and is referred to as an agent. A defined set of variables,
known as managed objects, is maintained by the SNMP agent and used to
manage the device. These objects are defined in a Management
Information Base (MIB) that provides a standard presentation of the
information controlled by the agent. SNMP defines both the format of the
MIB specifications and the protocol used to access this information over
the network.
The switch includes an onboard agent that supports SNMP versions 1, 2c,
and 3. This agent continuously monitors the status of the switch hardware,
as well as the traffic passing through its ports. A network management
station can access this information using software such as EliteView.
Access to the onboard agent using SNMP v1 and v2c is controlled by
community strings. To communicate with the switch, the management
station must first submit a valid community string for authentication.
Access to the switch using SNMPv3 provides additional security features
that cover message integrity, authentication, and encryption; as well as
controlling user access to specific areas of the MIB tree.
The SNMPv3 security structure consists of security models, with each
model having it’s own security levels. There are three security models
defined, SNMPv1, SNMPv2c, and SNMPv3. Users are assigned to
“groups” that are defined by a security model and specified security levels.
Each group also has a defined security access to set of MIB objects for
reading and writing, which are known as “views.” The switch has a default
view (all MIB objects) and default groups defined for security models v1
and v2c. The following table shows the security models and levels available
and the system default settings.