Module2 1
Module 2: BASIC FOUNDATION — STANDARDS, MODELS &
LANGUAGE
2.1 NETWORK MANAGEMENT STANDARDS
OSI/CMIP
• International standard (ISO/OSI)
• Management of data communications networks--LAN & WAN
• Deals with all 7 layers
• Object oriented
• Well structured & layered
• Consumes large resource in implementation
• The OSI management protocol standard is CMIP (Common Management Information
Protocol) , & has built-in services ,CMIS (Common Management Information Service) that
specify the basic services needed to perform the various functions
SNMP/Internet
• Industry standard (IETF)
• Originally intended for management of Internet components, currently adopted for WAN &
telecommunication systems
• Easy to implement
• Most widely implemented
TMN
• International standard (ITU-T)
• Management of telecommunications network
• Based on OSI network management framework
• Addresses both network & administrative aspects of management
IEEE
• IEEE standards adopted internationally
• Addresses management of LANs & MANs
• Adopts OSI standards significantly
• Deals with first 2 layers of the OSI reference model
Web Based Management
• This is based on using Web technology, a web server for the management system and web
browsers for network management stations
• Web Based Enterprise Management (WBEM)
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 2
• Java Management Extensions (JMX)
• DMTF (Desktop Management Task Force) is developing specifications for WBEM.
• JMX is based on a special subset of Java applets developed by Sun microsystems that runs in
the network components
2.2 NETWORK MANAGEMENT MODEL
•The OS1 network model is an ISO standard and is most complete of all the models. It is
structured and it addresses all aspects of management. Figure shows an OSI network
management architectural model that comprises four models. They are the organization model,
the information model, the communication model, and the functional model.
• The organization model describes the components of a network management system, their
functions, and their infrastructure. It defines the terms Object, Agent, and Manager.
• The information model deals with the structure and the organization of management
information. It specifies the Structure of' Management Information (SMI) and the Information
database, management information base (MIB). SMI describes how the management
information is structured and MIB deals with the relationship and storage of management
information.
• The communication model has 3 components: management application processes that
function in the application layer, layer management between layers and layer operation within
the layers.
• The functional model deals with the user-oriented requirements of network management.
there are five functional application areas defined in OSI, namely Configuration, fault,
performance, security, and accounting. These are defined as system management functions in
OSI.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 3
2.3 ORGANIZATION MODEL
• The organization model describes the components of network management & their
relationships.
Two Tier Network Management Organization Model
• In two tier model (Figure: 3.2), network objects consist of network elements such as hosts,
hubs, bridges, routers etc.
• They can be classified into managed & unmanaged objects or elements.
• The managed elements have a management process running in them called an agent.
• The manager manages the managed element.
• There is a database in the manager but not in the agent.
• The manager queries the agent & receives management data, processes it & stores it in its
database.
MDB Manager
Managed objects
Unmanaged objects
MDB - Management Database
Agent process
Two-Tier Network Management Organization Model
Three Tier Network Management Organization Model
• In 3 tier model, the intermediate layer acts as both agent & manager (Figure: 3.3),
• As manager, it collects data from the network elements, processes it & stores the results in its
database.
• As agent, it transmits information to the top-level manager.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 4
MDB Manager
MDB Agent / Manager
Managed objects
MDB Management Database
Agent process
Three-Tier Network Management Organization Model
Network Management Model with MoM
• Network domains can be managed locally and a global view of the networks can be monitored
by a MoM (Manager of managers).
• This configuration uses an enterprise network management system & is applicable to
organizations with sites distributed across cities
MoM Manager of Managers
NMS Network Management System MoM MDB
Agent Agent
Agent NMS MDB Agent NMS MDB
Manager Manager
Managed objects
Managed objects
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 5
2.4 INFORMATION MODEL
• An information model is concerned with the structure & the storage of information
• Information on network components is passed between the agent & management processes.
• The information model specifies the information base to describe managed objects & their
relationships.
• The SMI defines the syntax & semantics of management information stored in the MIB.
• The MIB is used by both agent & management processes to store & exchange management
information.
• A manager MIB consists of information on all the network components that it manages
whereas an agent MIB needs to know only its local information, its MIB view.
• The MDB is a real database & contains the measured or administratively configured value of
the elements of the network. On the other hand, the MIB is a virtual database & contains the
information necessary for processes to exchange information.
2.4.1 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TREES
• Managed objects are uniquely defined by a tree structure specified by the OSI model & are
used in the Internet model (Figure: 3.8).
• There is root node & well-defined node underneath each node at different levels.
• Each managed object occupies a node in the tree (e.g. Internet is designated as 1.3.6.1).
• In the OSI model, the managed objects are defined by a containment tree that represents the
MIT.
• The root node does not have an explicit designation.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 6
• The iso defines the International Standards Organization and itu defines the International
Telecommunications Union.
• The 2 standards organizations are on the first layer & define management of objects under
them.
• The joint iso-itu node is for management objects jointly defined by the 2 organizations.
Root
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Management Information Tree
itu iso iso-itu
0 1 2
org
Standard organizations: define 3
management of objects under them
dod
6
internet
Managed Objects
1
OSI Management Information Tree
• Designation of objects:
iso 1
org 1.3
dod 1.3.6
internet 1.3.6.1
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 7
2.4.2 CONCEPTUAL VIEWS OF MANAGED OBJECTS (INTERNET & OSI
PERSPECTIVE)
• A managed object in the Internet model is defined by 5 parameters (Figure: 3.9a):
→ object identifier & descriptor: unique ID & name for the object type
→ syntax: used to model the object
→ access: access privilege o a managed object
→ status: implementation requirements
→ definition: textual description of the semantics of object type
• The Internet object model is a scalar model & is easy to understand. In contrast, the OSI
perspective of a managed object is complex & has a different set of characteristics.
Access: Object Type:
Access Object ID and
privilege Descriptor
circle
Status :
Implementation
requirements
Syntax : Definition :
model of object Semantics -
textual description
Internet Perspective
• OSI specifications are object-oriented, and hence a managed object belongs to an object class
• The attribute of an object defines the external perspective of the object
• An OSI managed object has the following characteristics
→ object class: managed object
→ attributes: attributes visible at its boundary
→ operations: operations that can be applied to it
→ behaviour: behavior exhibited by it in response to an operation
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 8
→ notification: notifications emitted by the object
• Operation in the Internet model is done by get & set commands. Notification is done by
response & alarm messages.
• In OSI, we can create & delete objects. These concepts do not exist in the Internet.
Notifications
:
Notify changes in
attribute values
Object Class:
Elliptical
Object Class:
object
Circular
object Behavior
Operations:
Push
:
Attributes: Attributes:
circle, dimension ellipse, dimension
OSI Perspective
Characteristics Example
Object type PktCounter
Syntax Counter
Access Read-only
Status Mandatory
Description Counts number of packets
Internet Perspective
Characteristics Example
Object class Packet Counter
Attributes Single-valued
Operations get, set
Behavior Retrieves or resets values
Notifications Generates notifications on new
value
OSI Perspective
Packet Counter As Example of Managed Object
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 9
2.5 COMMUNICATION MODEL
• Management data is communicated between agent & manager processes, as well as between
manager processes.
• Three aspects need to be addressed in the communication of information between 2 entities:
transport medium of message exchange, message format of communication and the actual
message.
Management Communication Model
• In the communication model (Figure: 3.11), the applications in the manager module initiate
requests to the agent in the Internet model.
• The agent executes the request on the network elements and returns responses to the manager.
• The notifications/traps are the unsolicited messages such as alarms, generated by the agent.
Operations /
Requests
Manager Responses Agent
Notifications / Network Elements
Applications
Traps Managed Objects
Management Message Communication Model
Management Communication Transfer Protocols
• Figure: 3.12 presents the communication protocol used to transfer information between
managed object & managing processes, as well as between management processes.
• The OSI model uses CMIP along with CMIS. Internet uses SNMP for communication.
• OSI uses both connection oriented and connectionless protocols for transportation. Internet
uses connectionless UDP/IP protocol to transport messages.
• CMIP & SNMP specifies the management communication protocols for OSI & Internet
management respectively.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 10
2.6 ABSTRACT SYNATAX NOTATION (ASN.1)
• ASN.1 stands for Abstract Syntax Notation One.
• This is a formal language developed jointly by CCITT & ISO for use with application layers
for data transfer between systems.
• This is also applicable within the system for clearly separating the abstract syntax and the
transfer syntax at the presentation layer.
• Abstract syntax is defined as the set of rules used to specify data types and structures for
storage of information.
• Transfer syntax represents the set of rules for communicating information between systems.
• Abstract syntax is applicable to the information model and transfer syntax to the
communication model
• The algorithm to convert the textual ASN.1 syntax to machine readable code is called BER
(Basic Encoding
Rules).
ASN.1 CONVENTIONS
• ASN.1 is based on the Backus system & uses the formal syntax language & grammar of the
BNF (Backus-Nauer Form) ,which looks like
<name>::=<definition> where
the notation <entity> denotes an "entity" and
the symbol ::= represents "defined as"
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 11
<BooleanType>::= BOOLEAN
<BooleanType>:= TRUE | FALSE
The definitions on the right side are called primitives
The format of each line is defined as a production or assignment
Entities that are all in capital letter such as TRUE and FALSE are called keywords
• Rules:
• <digit> ::= 0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9
• <number> ::= <digit> | <number> <digit>
• <op> ::= +|-|x|/
• <SAE> ::= <number>|<SAE>|<SAE><op><SAE>
• Example:
• 9 is primitive 9
• 19 is construct of 1 and 9
• 619 is construct of 6 and 19
• A group of assignments makes up an module.
eg: person-name Person-Name ::=
{
first "john"
middle "T"
last "smith"
}
Here "person-name" is the name of the module which is a data type. "Person-Name" is a module
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 12
ASN.1 SYMBOLS
Symbol Meaning
::= Defined as
| or, alternative, options of a list
- Signed number
-- Following the symbol are comments
{} Start and end of a list
[] Start and end of a tag
() Start and end of subtype
.. Range
ASN.1 CONVENTIONS
Following are 3 constructive mechanisms:
→ alternatives: CHOICE
→ list: SET and SEQUENCE
→ repetition: SET OF and SEQUENCE OF
• ASN.1 definition allows both backward & forward references as well as inline definition.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 13
ASN.1 DATA TYPE
I. STRUCTURE
1.Simple Type
• A simple type one for which the values are specified directly. For example, we can define a
page of a book as
PageNumber of simple type.
i.e. PageNumber::=INTEGER
ChapterNumber::=INTEGER
2.Structured Type
• A data type is a structured type when it contains other type.
• Types that are within a structured type are called component types. For example ,we can
define all the pages of
the book as a collection of individual pages.
i.e. BookPages::=SEQUENCE OF
{
SEQUENCE {ChapterNumber , Separator ,PageNumber}
}
• SET is distinguished from SEQUENCE in 2 respects:
1) The data types should all be distinct and
2) The order of values in SET is of no consequence whereas it is critical in the SEQUENCE
construct.
3.Tagged Type
• Tagged type is a type derived from another type that is given a new tag id.
• A tagged type is defined to distinguish types within an application.
4.Other Type
• Other type is a data type that is not predefined.
• This is chosen from CHOICE and ANY types, which are contained in other types.
• Type CHOICE defines the selection of one value from a specified list of distinct types.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 14
Data Type
Tag
Structure
Number
Simple Structured Tagged Other Class
Context-
Universal Application Private
specific
II. Tags
• Tag uniquely identifies a data type and is required for encoding the data types for
communicationFigure 3.15 ASN.1 Data Type Structure and Tag
• Comprises class and tag number
• Class:
Universal - similar to global variables
Application - only in the application used
Context-specific - specific context in application
Private - used extensively by commercial vendors
ASN.1 Object Types
❑ Used to name and describe information objects
❑ Such as standard documents, data structures, managed objects
❑ In general, an information object is a class of information, e.g., file format, rather than
an instance of such a class (i.e., individual file)
❑ Object identifier is a unique identifier for a particular object and its value consist of a
set of integers
❑ Object descriptor is a human readable description of an information object
❑ Private type is used extensively by vendors of network products
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 15
❑ A vendor is assigned a node on the MIT, all branches and leaves under that node will
be assigned private data types by the vendor
itu iso iso-itu
0 1 2
org
3
dod
6
internet
1
private
4
enterprise
1
IBM
2
ibm OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::=
{iso(1)
org(3)
dod(6)
internet(1)
private(4)
enterprize(1) 2}
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 16
2.8 ENCODING STRUCTURE
• The ASN.1 syntax that contains the management information is encoded using the BER
defined for the transfer
syntax.
• The ASCII text data is converted to bit-oriented data.
• Example of encoding structure is TLV which denotes type, length & value components of
structure.
• The type has 3 subcomponents: class, P/C & tag number.
• P/C specifies whether the structure is a primitive, or simple, type or a construct.
• This is encoded as a one byte (an octet) field.
• The value of P/C is 0 for primitive & 1 for construct.
Type Length Value
Class P/C Tag Number
(7-8th bits) (6th bit) (1-5th bits)
1 byte
Class (2 bits): specifies the class being used
Class 8th Bit 7th Bit
Universal 0 0
Application 0 1
Context Specific 1 0
Private 1 1
Example, INTEGER belongs to a universal class with a tag value of 2 and is a primitive data
type. Hence, the type is 00000010.
2.9 MACROS
The data types and values use ASN.1 notation of syntax directly and explicitly, ASN.l
language permits extension of this capability to define new data types and values by defining
ASN.l macros.
The ASN.1 macros also facilitate grouping of instances of an object or concisely defining
various characteristics associated with an object.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 16
Structure of an ASN.1 Macro
<macroname> MACRO ::=
BEGIN
TYPE NOTATION ::= <syntaxOfNewType>
VALUE NOTATION ::= <syntolOfNewValue>
<auxiliary Assignments>
END
The keyword for a macro is all in capital letters. TYPE NOTATION defines the syntax of the
new types and VALUE NOTATION defines the syntax of the new values. The auxiliary
assignments define and describe any new types identified.
The OBJECT-IDENTITY macro is used to define information about an OBJECT
IDENTIFIER assignment. The 'two syntactical expressions STATUS and DESCRIPTION
are mandatory and the type ReferPart is optional. The value in VALUE NOTATION defines
the object identifier.
OBJECT-IDENTlTY MACRO
BEGIN
TYPE NOTATION ::=
"STATUS” Status
"DESCRIPTION "Text
ReferPart
VALUE NOTATION ::=
Value(VALUE OBJECT IDENTIFIER)
Status ::= "current" | "deprecated" | "obsolete"
ReferPart ::= "REFERENCE" Text | empty
Text ::= "value (IASString)'
END
As an example of the usage of the OBJECT-IDENTITY macro, let us consider a registration
authority that-register all computer science courses that are offered in the College of
Computing. Suppose we want to formally register the network management course cs8113
under the object descriptor csclasses as the 50th subnode, we can specify an ASN.1 OBJECT-
IDENTlTY macro. The object identifier cs8113 has a value {csclasses 1}. Its status is current
and has a description explaining the course offering.
CS8113 OBJECT· IDENTITY
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION "A graduate -level network management course offered every year
by College of Computing , in Georgia Institute of Technology"
::= (csclasses 50)
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 16
2.10 FUNCTIONAL MODEL
• The functional model component addresses the user-oriented applications, which are
formally specified in the OSI model.
• The functional model consists of 5 submodels: configuration management, fault
management, performancemanagement, security management and accounting management.
Fault Management
• This involves detection & isolation of the problem that caused the failures, and restoration
of the service.
• Whenever there is a service failure it is NOC's responsibility to restore service as soon as
possible. In several
failure situations, the network will do this automatically. This network feature is called self-
healing.
• An NMS can also detect failures of components & indicate them with appropriate alarms.
• The responsibility to fix the problem usually rests with the I&M group.
• A trouble ticket is generated manually by a source engineer at NOC using a trouble-ticket
system or automaticallygenerated by an NMS.
• The information on the trouble ticket includes
→ a tracking number assigned by the system → time at which problem occurred
→ the nature of the problem → affected user
→ the responsible group/engineer to resolve the problem
• The tracking of a trouble involves several groups and the administration of it generally
belongs to the networkmaintenance group.
Security Management
• This involves physically securing network, access to network resources & secured
communication over network.
• Access privilege to application software is not the responsibility of the NOC unless the
application is eitherowned or maintained by the NOC.
• A security database is established & maintained by the NOC for access to the network &
network information.
• Unauthorized access to the network generates an alarm on the NMS at the NOC.
• Firewalls protect corporate networks & network resources from being accessed by
unauthorized personnel &programs including virus programs.
Rashmi S | VVCE
Module2 16
• Secured communication prevents tampering of information as it traverses the network, so
that is cannot beaccessed or altered by unauthorized personnel. Cryptography plays a vital
part in security management.
Performance Management
• This is concerned with the performance behaviour of the network.
• The status of the network is displayed by a NMS that measures the traffic & performance of
the network.
• The NOC gathers data & keeps them up to date to tune the network for optimum
performance.
• The network statistics include data on traffic, network availability& network delay.
• The traffic data can be captured based on volume of traffic in the various segments of the
network.
• Performance data on availability & delay is useful for tuning the network to increase the
reliability & to improveits response time.
• Traffic statistics are helpful in detecting trends & planning future needs.
Accounting Management
• The NOC administers costs & allocates the use of the network.
• Metrics are established to measure the usage of resources & services.
• There are 3 classes of reports: systems, management & user.
• System reports are needed for network operations to track the activities. Management
reports go to themanagement of the network management group to keep them informed about
the activities & performance of theNOC & the network. The user reports are distributed to the
users on a periodic basis to let them know the status ofnetwork performance.
Rashmi S | VVCE