Management information base

A management information base (MIB) is a database used for managing the entities in a communication network. Most often associated with the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the term is also used more generically in contexts such as in OSI/ISO Network management model. While intended to refer to the complete collection of management information available on an entity, it is often used to refer to a particular subset, more correctly referred to as MIB-module.Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) is a standard and flexible notation that describes data structures for representing, encoding, transmitting, and decoding data. It provides a set of formal rules for describing the structure of objects that are independent of machine-specific encoding techniques and is a precise, formal notation that removes ambiguities.The MIB hierarchy can be depicted as a tree with a nameless root, the levels of which are assigned by different organizations. The top-level MIB OIDs belong to different standards organizations, while lower-level object IDs are allocated by associated organizations. This model permits management across all layers of the OSI reference model, extending into applications such as databases, email, and the Java reference model, as MIBs can be defined for all such area-specific information and operations.MIB modules are occasionally updated to add new functionality, remove ambiguities and to fix defects. These changes are made in conformance to section 10 of RFC 2578 and section 5 of RFC 2579. An example of a MIB module that has been updated many times is the important set of objects that was originally defined in RFC 1213, also known as 'MIB-II'. This MIB module has since been split up and can be found in MIB modules such as RFC 4293 'Management Information Base for the Internet Protocol (IP)', RFC 4022 'Management Information Base for the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)', RFC 4113 'Management Information Base for the User Datagram Protocol (UDP)', RFC 2863 'The Interfaces Group MIB' and RFC 3418 'Management Information Base (MIB) for the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)'.There are a large number of MIBs defined by standards organizations like the IETF, private enterprises and other entities.