In C++, a piece of data whose structure is described by its membership in a class. Access to the data is provided only by the member functions defined by the class. For managed objects, a specific case or example of a managed object. For example, routers might be taken as an object class; one particular router would be an instance of that class.

Instrumentation is the general name for programs that provide the values for attributes in the MIF database. Instrumentation is provided in two ways: by runtime programs (programs that are run by the Service Provider to retrieve or set the value at the time the action is requested by a management application) and by direct interface (programs that are always running and linked into the Service Provider to provide the value on request).

A large collection of connected networks, primarily in the United States, running the Internet suite of protocols. The generic term "internet" refers to a collection of TCP/IP internetworks.

The capability of two or more systems to meet user requirements by communicating through specific mechanisms in a known environment.

Internet Engineering Task Force. Source of MIB, SNMP.

A 32-bit quantity used to represent a point of attachment in a TCP/IP-based Internet.

International Standards Organization. Develops standards, by international agreement, over a wide range of technical areas.

A key attribute is the attribute used to find a specific row in a table of attributes when there is more than one instance of a set of attributes in a particular group. For instance, a computer system often has more than one serial port attached to it. To describe these serial ports, the Serial Port Group in the system's MIF file would be set up as a table, with one row in the table describing the specifics of a particular serial port. To access this information, one or more of the attributes (such as the I/O address) would be designated as the key. To find a specific serial port, the management application would ask for the row containing the proper I/O address.

SNMP-based agents that already exist in released products from Sun or outside companies. Solstice Enterprise Agents allows the integration of legacy SNMP agents.

A network computer, router, hub, or other piece of equipment on the network that has object classes entered in the Solstice EM MIT and a network agent running on it.

The representation of a network resource (or a set of resources). Note that in general a managed object is an abstraction that represents selected attributes of the resource it represents. The managed object resides within the MIS, where it represents a resource that is elsewhere. A managed object is characterized by:

• attributes visible at its boundary

• management operations that may be applied to it

• behaviors it exhibits in response to management operations

• notifications that it emits

A MIB or MIT entry that represents some aspect of a network node or line that is monitored and, in some cases, set, using Solstice EM services. The MIS manages the object by polling it, displaying the attribute values for current object instances of it, and in some cases changing the attribute values for instances of it.

The formal description of a set of managed objects. A managed object is the collection of data that represents a managed resource. Specified in ITU Recommendation X.701 | ISO/IEC 10040.

A management application is any program that retrieves and changes information about the manageable products on a desktop system. A management application talks to the Service Provider through the Management Interface (MI). For example, a remote network monitoring tool and a local control panel are management applications.

The system requesting information from and setting information in a network node running a network-management system.

The integration of DMI 2.0 technology is done through the Mapper, that acts as a subagent. The Mapper receives the requests from the Master Agent and converts them into appropriate DMI requests that are sent to the DMI Service Provider. When the Mapper receives the response from the DMI Service Provider, it converts this response into the SNMP response and forwards it to the Manager through the Master Agent.

An entity/process on a managed node that exchanges SNMP protocol messages with the managers such as Domain Manager, Enterprise Manager, H-P Openview.

The set of descriptions of the forms of data used to describe managed objects in a network (as distinct from the data itself).

Management Information Base. A hierarchical system for classifying information about resources in a network. By industry agreement, individual developers are assigned portions of the tree structure where they may attach descriptions specific to their own devices.

A collection of managed objects.

The implementation of a network management protocol (a program) that exchanges network management information with a network management station.

The protocol used to convey management information.

Network Management Forum. An association of vendors and developers of network hardware and software dedicated to the promotion of interoperable network management based on the use of OSI techniques.