13 Hp 3Par Snmp Infrastructure; Overview; About Snmp; Snmp Managers - HP 3PAR StoreServ 7200 2-node Manual

13 HP 3PAR SNMP Infrastructure

Overview

In addition to managing the system with the HP 3PAR Management Console and the HP 3PAR CLI,
the HP 3PAR OS includes an SNMP agent that allows you to perform some basic management
functions via network management software running on a management station. These SNMP
management functions require that you have SNMP management software not provided by HP.

About SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a standard management interface used by many
software frameworks to manage hardware devices. Use of SNMP requires two components, an
agent and a manager. The manager is the management process that sends requests to the agent.
The host that the manager runs on is called the management station.

SNMP Managers

There are four types of requests that an SNMP manager can send to an agent:
SET. The SET request writes an object value in the agent. The SET request includes the object
ID and a new value for the object. The agent will change the value of the object and save it
in the persistent store. Not all objects are changeable. The MIB contains access information.
GET. The GET request reads an object value in the agent. The GET request includes the object
ID to be retrieved. The agent returns the value of the object.
GETNEXT. The GETNEXT request reads the object instance that is next in lexicographical order
to the object ID in the request. For example, if the object ID specified in the request is
.12925.0, the returned object ID should be .12925.1, if it exists.
GETBULK. The GETBULK operation is an optimization of the GETNEXT operation, that allows
multiple instances of objects to be returned.
In addition, the manager can register with the agent to receive notifications (traps) for critical events
(alerts) and alert state changes. Before an SNMP manager can receive the traps generated by the
SNMP agent, you must register your manager with the agent. Refer to Chapter 14, Using SNMP,
in the HP 3PAR Command Line Interface Administrator's Manual for instructions on registering an
SNMP manager with the SNMP agent.

The HP 3PAR SNMP Agent

The HP 3PAR SNMP agent runs on the system and provides a management interface to enable
other software products to manage HP hardware using SNMP. The SNMP agent responds to GET,
SET, GETNEXT, and GETBULK SNMP requests and also generates notification messages (traps)
for critical events (alerts) and alert state changes. The SNMP agent converts all system alerts and
alert state changes into SNMPv2 traps and forwards them to all SNMP management stations that
have previously registered with the agent. These notifications contain detailed information describing
critical events and are generated for every alert and alert state change issued by the system. The
exact message formats are described in the HP 3PAR MIB. See the Using SNMP chapter in the HP
3PAR Command Line Interface Administrator's Manual for instructions on locating this file.
72 HP 3PAR SNMP Infrastructure