Management Information Base (MIB) 559MIB Objects The data in the MIB consists of objects that represent features of theequipment that an agent can control and manage. Examples of objects inthe MIB include a port that you can enable or disable and a counter thatyou can read.A counter is a common type of MIB object used by RMON. A counterobject may record the number of frames transmitted onto the network.The MIB may contain an entry for the counter object something like theone in Figure 98.Figure 98 Example of an RMON MIB Counter ObjectThe counter object information includes these items:n The name of the counter. In Figure 98, the counter is calledetherStatsPkts (Ethernet, Statistics, Packets).n Access level. In Figure 98, access is read-only.n The number of the counter’s column in the table. In Figure 98, thecounter is in column 5 of the etherStatsEntry table.The name of the table where the counter resides is 3CometherStatTable,although this name does not appear in the display.To manage a network, you do not need to know the contents of everyMIB object. Most network management applications, including TranscendNetwork Control Services, make the MIB transparent. However, byknowing how different management features are derived from the MIByou can better understand how to use the information they provide.MIBs include MIB-II, other standard MIBs (such as the RMON MIB), andvendors’ private MIBs (such as enterprise MIBs from 3Com). These MIBsand their objects are part of the MIB tree.etherStatsPkts OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX CounterACCESS read-onlySTATUS mandatoryDESCRIPTIONThis is a total number of packetsreceived, including bad packets,broadcast packets, and multicastpackets.::= { etherStatsEntry 5 }
