How SNMP Uses the Registry

The Registry, the operating system database on each Windows NT-based computer, contains information that is needed for network management. The SNMP service accesses the Registry and converts the information into a format that can be used by third-party SNMP network management programs.

Figure 11.1 The Windows NT Registry

The following sections — "Management Information Base," "Agents," and "Managers" — provide a high-level overview of the major software components of SNMP. Windows NT implements SNMP-based MIBs and an SNMP agent component to provide the necessary framework for SNMP network management.

SNMP uses a glossary of network management terms that may be unfamiliar to some readers. The following SNMP network management terminology is used in this chapter.

• A host is any network device, including workstation and server computers.
• Managed-objects are host hardware and software resources, such as a computer disk partition, that can be monitored (managed) by a network administrator at another computer on the network.
• Each SNMP host (computer) has one or many management information bases (MIBs) that contain information about the managed-objects on that computer.
• A manager is a software program that sends requests for data to other computers on the network. Typically, the manager includes a user interface (UI) for displaying status and data retrieved from the network computers and devices.
• An SNMP management console is any computer running SNMP manager software.
• An agent is a software program that processes manager requests for data by retrieving data from managed-objects on the computer. The agent program is part of the SNMP service running under Windows NT.