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Conference azur::mcc

Title:DECmcc user notes file. Does not replace IPMT.
Notice:Use IPMT for problems. Newsletter location in note 6187
Moderator:TAEC::BEROUD
Created:Mon Aug 21 1989
Last Modified:Wed Jun 04 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:6497
Total number of notes:27359

2357.0. "features of MCC or MSU w/ cisco, Proteon" by TRCOA::BBUTLER (diviner) Mon Feb 17 1992 23:12

     
     We are competing on a large multi-protocol router bid with a large 
     Network Management System component.  Two proposals are being 
     considered, one is cisco and the other is Proteon.
     
     I need functional details concering cisco and Proteon management in 
     order to determine whether to bid MCC or MSU, also compare our 
     capabilities with those of the competition.
     
     Because cisco and Proteon both make their concise private MIBs 
     available, MCC can now manage both.  I believe that MSU has shipped 
     with cisco and Protoen MIBs for some time.
     
     Do these private MIBs provide all of the management functions of 
     which the routers are capable or will the cisco and Proteon 
     proprietary management systems be able to do some things MCC and 
     MSU cannot do?
 
     Note 219 in Net_Mgt has some useful information on MSU but it describes
     the previous release of MSU.  I could use more feature comparision info
     like this on MCC, especially for SNMP and the third party routers.
    
     If anyone has information on this topic it will be much appreciated.
     
     Thanks,
     Brad Butler
     
     Toronto, CANADA
     dtn: 637-3532

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2357.1What else needs to be managed?TOOK::R_SPENCENets don't fail me now...Tue Feb 18 1992 16:2316
    I don't have all your answers but I do have a comment.
    
    What are the OTHER things in the network that will need management?
    
    Routers are only a small (in terms of numbers of units) part of a
    network. There are usually many other things that will need management.
    
    If the network is entirely TCP/IP and only IP (or SNMP) things need
    manageing, MSU may be the right choice.
    
    What other requirements are there of the maagement system? What about
    alarms, data recording, reporting etc? These issues will influence
    your choice of management system. Which router you choose isn't
    going to really influence the choice.
    
    s/rob
2357.2SUBWAY::REILLYMike Reilly - New York Bank DistrictTue Feb 18 1992 17:5249
    > Do these private MIBs provide all of the management functions of 
    > which the routers are capable or will the cisco and Proteon 
    > proprietary management systems be able to do some things MCC and 
    > MSU cannot do?

    With the basic MIB II variables you get a good feel for the status
    of the individual interfaces on the routers, and it's TCP-IP status.
    With the Cisco extended MIB you get some additional router
    specific counters and 'other' protocol counters.  This is not even
    close to 'all of the management functions of which these routers are
    capable'  Basically a Cisco can be monitored via SNMP with real
    management and configuration performed via a Telnet session.  I
    have not seen the Proteon MIB but I would doubt it is much better.

    The cisco management platform performs some configuration control
    which we do not perform under DECmcc. This configuration control
    utility just sets the machine up as a TFTP server and reads in the
    configuration files from the routers and will allow you to maintain
    a local load server. You could develop your own shell scripts to do
    this, assuming you can get TFTP to work under Ultrix... 

    When comparing DECmcc to other management stations consider
    the following MCC advantages..

    -	SNMP is just one of the device classes it handles in a
    	consistent manner.

    -	The TCPIP Performance FM which gives useful performance numbers
   		 not just a bunch of counters.

    -	The Graphing for those of us who cannot understand the numbers..

    -	Alarm rules, and the ability to generate alarms based on the
    		performance FM statistics.

    -	Handles SNMP traps.
    	
    -	Command line interface, Remember routers usually fail at 3am
    	when the telco's 'know' nobody would notice.    

    -	The ability to store historical data.. Long term reporting is
    	usually desirable for routers, as they are attached to those
    	expensive WAN links.


    	Hopefully somebody else can tell you about the Proteon Mgmt
    station.

    - Mike
2357.3MSU w/ cisco, Proteon ASDS::PUOPLOTue Feb 18 1992 20:2112
    
    I suggest posting in the ENUF::MSU notes file this note with a request
    for who is actually using MSU to manage Cisco and Proteon routers. Then
    have them clarify what are they doing.  
    
    To my knowledge, folks like Standord find MSU useful for doing monitoring
    and reporting on Cisco standard and private MIB variables.  I don't have
    any knowledge myself regarding configuration management (e.g.,
    reconfiguring the router via SNMP SETS.)
    
    Jerry
     
2357.4about cisco MIB, Config Mgt,..?TRCOA::BBUTLERdivinerWed Feb 19 1992 19:4976
     
	We are competing on a large multi-protocol router bid with a large 
	Network Management System component.  At the end of this note I have
	provided more information about the background of this bid at end of
	this note.
     
	I need functional details concering cisco and Proteon management
	in order to determine whether to bid MCC or MSU, also compare our 
	capabilities with those of the competition.

	I four questions:

q1.	I found a copy of the cisco private ASN.1 concise MIB in the
	MCC notes file, note 1747.  Most of the variables are read-only.
	I intend to copy the MIBII rfc from the network to see if it
	contains read-write variables.

	I want to know whether TELNET is simply an easier way or whether
	it is the ONLY way for MCC to remotely do actions such as turning
	cisco interfaces and protocols on/off.

	Does cisco NetCentral use a TELNET access method or do they
	have an SNMP application to perform configuration management?

q2.	Is it possible to report utilization data for cpu utilization
	of a cisco router?  Because this is a mandatory I suspect that
	cisco NetCentral station can report this; usually rfp authors
	check the facts with the vendor before making something mandatory;
	so the information is probably available, but can we get it?

	I see a 'freeMem' variable in the concise private MIB, but I
	don't see anything for 'freeCPU'.

q3.	Is it possible to display route table information from the cisco
	router?  If so then can route table info be displayed for TCP/IP
	DECnet, NetWare, OSPF?    What MIB variable contains this info?

q4.	Is there a utility to analyze a stored cisco configuration with
	the configuration of the running system?   The idea is to check
	whether the original configuration which was down-line loaded to
	the router is identical to the config currently running;
	i.e. software change control on a component basis.

	If discrepancies exist, could the network management station
	restore the original configuration without disrupting the entire
	router?

	It sounds like these capabilities would require customization.
	How difficult would it be to interpret the load file and compare
	with the running system config?  Can anyone suggest a method?


	thanks,

	Brad Butler
	dtn: 637-3532
	Toronto, CANADA

	Cross posted in enuf::msu

	Background for this bid:

	The RFP is the beginning of a government process to consolidate
	separate LAN and WAN networks.  The networks are DECnet, TCP/IP,
	SDLC, IPX and a few other protocols.  This RFP is for data only.
	But since the government agency also supports telecom, voice network
	management capabilities could provide a competitive advantage.

	The government has an IBM network which they intend to integrate
	using routers from whomever wins this RFP.

	They will buy either cisco or Protoen, likely cisco.  We have a
	couple of bid plans for this RFP which is why I originally
	asked about both cisco and Proteon.

2357.5SUBWAY::REILLYMike Reilly - New York Bank DistrictFri Feb 21 1992 13:52109
>q1.	I found a copy of the cisco private ASN.1 concise MIB in the
>	MCC notes file, note 1747.  Most of the variables are read-only.
>	I intend to copy the MIBII rfc from the network to see if it
>	contains read-write variables.
>
	MIB II has some additional IP management type variables.
    
>	I want to know whether TELNET is simply an easier way or whether
>	it is the ONLY way for MCC to remotely do actions such as turning
>	cisco interfaces and protocols on/off.

    	The MIB II variable ifAdminStatus can be used to turn a line
    on/off on a cisco router.  However, there is no way to control only
    one protocol on a line via SNMP.  If I set ifAdminStatus to 'down'
    then all protocols on the interface shut down. 
    
>	Does cisco NetCentral use a TELNET access method or do they
>	have an SNMP application to perform configuration management?

    As Netcentral uses the same SNMP MIB as you have, they can
    only perform the same SNMP actions as DECmcc or MSU . If I
    remember correctly NETcentral will allow you to edit a configuration
    text file on the mgmt. station and then TFTP the config to the
    router.  You too can offer this feature... all you need is an editor
    on your mgmt station. 
    
    To perform any real mgmt of a Cisco you must Telnet to the box. SNMP
    is really just a monitoring protocol at the moment. 
    
>q2.	Is it possible to report utilization data for cpu utilization
>	of a cisco router?  Because this is a mandatory I suspect that
>	cisco NetCentral station can report this; usually rfp authors
>	check the facts with the vendor before making something mandatory;
>	so the information is probably available, but can we get it?
>
>	I see a 'freeMem' variable in the concise private MIB, but I
>	don't see anything for 'freeCPU'.

    	It's there.. freeCPU = 100% - avgBusy1
    
    	From the Lsystem section of the cisco mib:
    
                   busyPer OBJECT-TYPE
                       SYNTAX  INTEGER
                       ACCESS  read-only
                       STATUS  mandatory
                       DESCRIPTION
                               "CPU busy percentage in the last 5 second
                               period. Not the last 5 realtime seconds but
                               the last 5 second period in the scheduler."
                       ::= { lsystem 56 }
    
             avgBusy1 OBJECT-TYPE
                       SYNTAX  INTEGER
                       ACCESS  read-only
                       STATUS  mandatory
                       DESCRIPTION
                               "1 minute exponentially-decayed moving
                               average of the CPU busy percentage."
                       ::= { lsystem 57 }
       
    
                   avgBusy5 OBJECT-TYPE
                       SYNTAX  INTEGER
                       ACCESS  read-only
                       STATUS  mandatory
                       DESCRIPTION
                               "5 minute exponentially-decayed moving
                               average of the CPU busy percentage."
                       ::= { lsystem 58 }
    
>q3.	Is it possible to display route table information from the cisco
>	router?  If so then can route table info be displayed for TCP/IP
>	DECnet, NetWare, OSPF?    What MIB variable contains this info?
>
    	The IP routing table and ARP table are in MIBII, the other
    routing tables are not there, just Telnet to the router and show them.
    
>q4.	Is there a utility to analyze a stored cisco configuration with
>	the configuration of the running system?   The idea is to check
>	whether the original configuration which was down-line loaded to
>	the router is identical to the config currently running;
>	i.e. software change control on a component basis.
>
>	If discrepancies exist, could the network management station
>	restore the original configuration without disrupting the entire
>	router?
>
>	It sounds like these capabilities would require customization.
>	How difficult would it be to interpret the load file and compare
>	with the running system config?  Can anyone suggest a method?

 	If you can get TFTP to work on Ultrix then this is easy. You
    need a shell script to perform the following.
    
    	1.	TFTP config from the router
        2.	diff the current config with the stored config
    	3.	if there is a diff use Data Collector AM to send event
    		to DECmcc
    	4.	wait 1 hour
    	5.	goto 1
    
    I havn't been able to get TFTP to run on Ultrix yet so I havn't
    tested this. You should also take a look at the utilities which
    reside at ftp.cisco.com, there are a number of programs there which
    may help you.
    
    - Mike