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(More customer reviews)Let me start simple: I'm neither a book author nor a professional "reviewer".
The only reason for this review -- and yes, this is my very first one -- is that I'm truly impressed with "SNMP MIB Handbook". Let me try to explain how did I happen to find it -- and why do I consider it "The Bible of MIB Design".
My recent task was (well, still is :)) to design an architecture for Enterprise Infrastructure Management, where the term "Infrastructure" is broad and a little bit vague (or should I say: "yet to be defined"? :)) -- but at the very least it includes hardware, software and essential business processes. SNMP, by no surprise, is one of several "ways to go" -- so I decided to refresh my SNMP knowledge.
After reading some introductory tutorials and not-so-introductory books, it occurred to me that something is missing, while 80% of information is "covered" again and again. Everybody talks about familiar subject: SNMP history, the fact that SNMP is based on UDP -- and how it is encapsulated; differences between SNMPv1, SNMPv2c and SNMPv3, the internal format of different types of SNMP messages, what is MIB, the concept of TRAP (notification), how to configure and use various commercial or freeware SNMP tools, etc.
What's missing then? Here is the short answer: nobody tells you how to DESIGN *your* MIB.
Let me make an analogy: there are plenty books on English Grammar; there are also quite a few on different reading "techniques". But how many books will teach you writing? Not writing in general, but writing *good prose* or *nice poems*? There you are!
Does it matter? Well, as usual, it depends. If your job is to *use* already existing MIBs -- that's one thing. But what if you have to *create* (i.e. design and implement) a MIB of your own -- the one that *others* will have to use? How would you do that? Where to start? What to cover - and what to omit? What are current design practices? What are the most typical mistakes?
Try to "google" on a topic of MIB design -- you'd be surprised with the results.
That being said, what's so special about this book?
It has answers to all of the questions above -- and goes far beyond.
Without further ado let me provide brief highlights about what I like most:
-- Not only it teaches you SMI (v1 and v2) syntax but also tells *how to read* MIBs, how to tell whether a particular MIB is good or not - and why;
-- While most other SNMP books fall short on advanced MIB objects (telling you about MIB tables at most), this one goes deep into the world of complex MIBs: you'll know about tables with multiple INDEX objects (and about different types of INDEX objects themselves), about row-create tables (and different scenarios of using them), about object identifier POINTERS, INDEX pointers, etc.
-- MIB Design Patterns: this part alone justifies the price! All-in-One vs. Product-specific MIBs; why SMI registration MIBs are important (and what to put inside); how to design TRAPs *properly* (different models for TRAP design, best practices, typical mistakes, consequences for end-users (e.g.: network engineers)); what objects are essential for Enterprise MIB design; how to *partition* you MIB properly (for example, how to model Product Options, how to account for future versions of the Product, how to model new/modified/deprecated functionality of the Product, the importance of state information -- and the difference between dynamic and static state info). And on top of that the book provides real-world *full* Enterprise-level MIB examples -- to read and learn from!
-- References (Appendix A) are really useful. Ever tried to figure out what RFCs define SNMPv3 (and what are *current* ones)? What SNMP Validation compilers are available? Where to look for various Enterprise MIBs?
-- Did I mention short quiz-type exercises after each chapter? You'll have a chance to grade yourself: Appendix F has correct answers.
To sum it up: this book is brilliantly written, easy to read and comprehend -- and *incredibly* useful.
It fills-in an important gap in today's SNMP literature: MIB Design Patterns and Practices.
Second to none, it establishes a Gold Standard on the subject -- for years to come.
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Essential Guide to SNMP MIB Development, Use, and Diagnosis. The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) allows Managers (software) to communicate with Agents (also software) on network-managed devices, to collect status, for configuration and control, and to receive unsolicited events (traps). A MIB (Management Information Base) is a file containing syntax defining data objects to be managed and traps to be sent. MIB objects and their values are the focus of the protocol. Simplicity of SNMP is the reason for its initial and continued success -- simple MIB objects define information sent using a simple message set. Yet it is flexible and scalable, used to manage small networks as well as large, distributed networks. This handbook is intended for developers (MIB and agent designers) and end-users (network engineers and IT-management specialists). It serves as an instructional manual and as a reference, and contains case descriptions, examples, practical advice, clear descriptions of standards, user exercises and quiz questions. It is an important book for anyone involved with SNMP, suitable for those new to the protocol as well as for experienced practitioners.
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