TOC

Introduction

Purpose Of The SNMP Component

The Simple Network Management Protocol provides a standardized network management framework for enabling the monitoring and control of a network. SNMP is a simple and extensible set of standards that is vendor independent and easy to implement.

The SNMP protocol provides a mechanism for managing networks running the TCP/IP protocol stack. A collection of managers and agents form a community. The protocol demands that each and every managed entity in the community run an agent process which controls the Management Information Base (MIB). The MIB contains the information pertaining to the system variables of the managed entities.

One or more of the networked entities must run the manager process which requests for information from the agent processes and is used by the network administrator to manage the network. The manager process must also be able to change the value of certain system variables of the networked entities through the agent process.

The SNMP Beans provide an implementation of the SNMP Protocol. In order to provide the flexibility to developers who want to create their own user interfaces, the SNMP Bean internally comprises of two beans

These beans may be used together or separately.

Though most beans can be part of both applications as well as applets, it should be noted that the SNMP Manager bean can work only as part of an application, and not in an applet due to security restrictions that apply to applets.


tocWho Should Read This Guide

This document is intended to be used by application builders who would like to build Java applications which provide SNMP client functionality in their applications.

The application developer is expected to be familiar with the Java language and the JavaBeans architecture. The developer should be familiar with building applications by linking beans in an application builder tool. Familiarity with the functionality of SNMP would be advantageous, though not mandatory. No knowledge about the implementation of SNMP is required in order to use these beans.


tocHow To Use This Guide

Introduction (this section) : introduces you to the SNMP bean. Provides information like the intended audience, guide organization and copyrights.

Installation : describes the hardware and software required for installing and using the SNMP bean, and also describes how to install the beans and prepare them for use.

Description : describes the SNMP beans in detail and provides information like the significant events, methods, customizations, etc.

Usage Scenarios : provides insights about how the SNMP beans can be used in different configurations.

API Reference : describes the application programming interfaces for the SNMP bean.

References : provides links to internet sites which provide substantial reference documentation for the SNMP protocol, MIB, Java and JavaBeans.

Glossary : gives a brief explanation of some of the technical terms used in this guide.


tocCopyrights And Trademarks

Copyright © 1998 IBM Corp.

All rights reserved.

IBM and VisualAge are trademarks of International Business Machines in the United States and/or other countries.

* Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc, in the U.S. and other countries.