14.1 NMS with Web Interface and I Web-Based Management Based on the preceding discussion, we recognize that we need to distinguish between the Web interface and Web management.The Web interface deals with how information is presented to the user. A similar approach exists in an SNMP-based management system.For example,a front-end Web interface is available for OpenView Network Node Manager,which makes it appear as a Web- based system.However,it is still a polling-based network management system that uses SNMP queries.Sometimes,the Web interface to an SNMP-based management system is wrongly referred to as Web-based management
14.1 NMS with Web Interface and Web-Based Management Based on the preceding discussion, we recognize that we need to distinguish between the Web interface and Web management. The Web interface deals with how information is presented to the user. A similar approach exists in an SNMP-based management system. For example, a front-end Web interface is available for OpenView Network Node Manager, which makes it appear as a Webbased system. However, it is still a polling-based network management system that uses SNMP queries. Sometimes, the Web interface to an SNMP-based management system is wrongly referred to as Web-based management
14.2 Web Interface to SNMP Management Two approaches are available to implement a Web interface on existing SNMP-based management systems.The first and short-term approach is to add a Web interface to an existing management system.The second is to have a Web-based system with embedded Web agents in the network components.The most common implementation is to establish a Web server on an NMS platform with an interface to the NMS,as shown in Figure 14.1.The SNMP NMS implementation is platform and operating system- specific,and the agents in managed objects are SNMP agents.The protocol between the agents and the manager is the SNMP communication protocol, traversing over UDP/IP.There is a management console for the NMS,and the Web server resides on the same platform
14.2 Web Interface to SNMP Management Two approaches are available to implement a Web interface on existing SNMP-based management systems. The first and short-term approach is to add a Web interface to an existing management system. The second is to have a Web-based system with embedded Web agents in the network components. The most common implementation is to establish a Web server on an NMS platform with an interface to the NMS, as shown in Figure 14.1. The SNMP NMS implementation is platform and operating systemspecific, and the agents in managed objects are SNMP agents. The protocol between the agents and the manager is the SNMP communication protocol, traversing over UDP/IP. There is a management console for the NMS, and the Web server resides on the same platform
Desktop PC Web Browser NMS Console Web Server SNMP Manager NMS SNMP Managed Objects SNMP Agent Figure 14.1 An SNMP NMS with a Web Interface
Desktop PC Web Browser Web Server Management Applications SNMP/ Proxy Server Other Managed Objects SNMP/Other Agent Figure 14.2 A Proxy Server with a Web Interface
14.3 Embedded Web-Based Management In embedded WBM,Web servers are embedded in the managed objects.Each managed object is assigned a Web address.The management application receives management information from the agents and displays it by means of a Web browser,as shown in Figure 14,3. Web servers are more intelligent than SNMP agents, which mostly read counters and pass information to the manager or respond to a ping.SNMP agents can send unsolicited basic traps to the manager.However, a Web agent could be sophisticated.For example,it could gather RMON information.Communication between an agent and the manager application is HTTP.For small offices,whose management requirements are minimal,the browser could monitor the Web agents directly,without any management application software.Thus embedded Web agents in network elements greatly simplify network management for network administrators
14.3 Embedded Web-Based Management In embedded WBM, Web servers are embedded in the managed objects. Each managed object is assigned a Web address. The management application receives management information from the agents and displays it by means of a Web browser, as shown in Figure 14,3. Web servers are more intelligent than SNMP agents, which mostly read counters and pass information to the manager or respond to a ping. SNMP agents can send unsolicited basic traps to the manager. However, a Web agent could be sophisticated. For example, it could gather RMON information. Communication between an agent and the manager application is HTTP. For small offices, whose management requirements are minimal, the browser could monitor the Web agents directly, without any management application software. Thus embedded Web agents in network elements greatly simplify network management for network administrators