Textual Conventions for MIB Modules Using Performance History Based on 15 Minute Intervals (RFC2493)

Network Working Group K. Tesink, Editor Request for Comments: 2493 Bellcore Category: Standards Track January 1999

Textual Conventions for MIB Modules Using Performance History Based on 15 Minute Intervals

Status of this Memo

This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

This document defines a set of Textual Conventions for MIB modules which make use of performance history data based on 15 minute intervals.

1. Table of Contents

1 Table of Contents ..................................... 1 2 Introduction .......................................... 1 3 Note on Invalid Data and Proxy ........................ 2 4 Note on xyzTimeElapsed ................................ 3 5 Note on xyzValidIntervals ............................. 3 6 Definitions ........................................... 3 7 Acknowledgments ....................................... 7 8 References ............................................ 7 9 Security Considerations ............................... 8 10 IANA Considerations .................................. 8 11 Author’s Address ..................................... 8 12 Intellectual Property ................................ 8 13 Full Copyright Statement ............................. 9

2. Introduction

In cases where a manager must obtain performance history data about the behavior of equipment it manages several strategies can be followed in the design of a MIB that represents the managed equipment, including:

Tesink, Ed. Standards Track [Page 1]

RFC 2493 15 Minute Based Performance History TCs January 1999

0 The agent counts events on a continuous basis and, whenever desired, the manager obtains the value of the event counter and adjusts its understanding of the history of events at the agent.

0 The agent allocates events to ’buckets’ where each bucket represents an interval of time.

Telecommunications equipment often makes use of the latter strategy. See [3][4][5] for examples. In particular, for this equipment it is common that history data is maintained by the agent in terms of fifteen minute intervals.

This memo does not attempt to compare the relative merits of different strategies to obtain history data. Differences may include polling policy, the amount of management traffic between manager and agent, agent simplicity, and ’data currentness’ of the data obtained by the manager. MIB designers should consider these aspects when choosing a particular strategy in a MIB design. Instead, this memo provides definitions that can be used in MIB modules that require history data based on fifteen minute intervals.

When designing a MIB module, it is often useful to...