Internet Info 1993/Internet Info CD-ROM (Walnut Creek) (1993).iso/inet/ietf/hostmib/hostmib-minutes-92oct.txt

Text File | 1993-02-17 | 8.9 KB | 258 lines

Editor's Note:  Minutes received 11/14/92

INTERIM_MEETING_REPORT_



Reported by Steven Waldbusser/CMU

Minutes of the Host Resources MIB Working Group (HOSTMIB)

Minutes of the Host Resources MIB Working Group held October 12-13, 1992
at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Agenda


   o Introduction (Waldbusser)

      -  Local Arrangements
      -  Attendance
      -  Agenda

   o Overview of Changes (Grillo, Waldbusser)
   o Questions about current draft (Discussion)
   o Proposals
   o Summary


Overview of Changes from Last Draft


   o New DateAndTime syntax (more changes in the works)
   o Processor is now a device
   o Storage allocation units
   o New device types
   o Nuke device location (as per mailing list)
   o Add device status
   o Add device errors
   o Nuke video table (as per mailing list)
   o Rearrange disk/partition/file system
   o Full/Partial backup date
   o Printer table
   o SW type (OS, device driver,application)


Resolutions to the Proposed Topics


   o Storage -> Device - explain logical vs.  physical
     There were requests to clarify the differences between the
     hrStorage table and why it isn't in the hrDevice table.  The
     hrStorage table is defined as a table of logical storage entries as
     opposed to the hrDevice table, which describes physical devices.
     It was agreed that additional dialogue in the MIB was needed in
     order to clarify the use of the hrStorage table.

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o ProductID - Guidance to Industry, Should CMU Bootstrap?
  It was agreed that ProductIDs are a good idea.  There was
  discussion as to how to encourage adoption of ProductIDs throughout
  the industry.  There was a proposal to `seed' a list in CMU address
  space with definitions for popular products.

o Logging
  It was decided that logging of system `events' was a useful
  function, but was outside of the scope of the host resources MIB
  effort.

o Nuke hrDiskStorageType
  This enumerated list was dropped.  This same information may be
  determined from the hrDeviceType.

o ReadWrite/readOnly in disk/FS Entries
  There was confusion about what readWrite/readOnly meant in the disk
  and file system entries.  This was clarified (see new MIB for
  clarification).

o Asset Management - Serial #, ...
  It was suggested that an object should exist for serial numbers of
  devices (and possibly S/W). The Group agreed that, instead, the
  hrDeviceDescr and hrSwInstalledName could contain the serial
  number.

o Printer Status - deviceStatus relationship
  See `general printer discussion' below.

o Nuke outOfPaper, Replace with interventionRequired
  See `general printer discussion' below.

o Additional Variables for Network Table
  A proposal was made for some additional variables to be added to
  the network table.  After some discussion, it was determined that
  the proposed variables were PC NOS specific or belonged in a
  networking MIB. The proposal was then dropped.

o Networked Disks
  It was agreed that it would be important to identify those file
  systems that were remotely mounted, but that the host MIB should
  not support remote troubleshooting of these file systems (it should
  contain enough information for a manager to find the file server
  and communicate directly with it).  A new object,
  hrFSRemoteMountPoint was added to the hrFSTable to provide this
  linkage.


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o References to (MIB-II) System Group
  The host resources MIB requires the use of certain MIB-II System
  Group variables.  There was concern about the discussions going on
  in the SNMPv2 Working Group about the unclear semantics of the
  sysDescr object.  It was agreed that we would monitor these
  activities and not duplicate them here, but if at some later date
  this issue is not resolved we may need to add this functionality
  into this MIB.
o General Printer Discussion
  Considerable discussion occurred on how to best define printers in
  this MIB. It was agreed that this MIB was not the place to have
  total printer knowledge, but that generic printer state information
  was needed.
  Some problems with the October draft were that the printerStatus
  variable was overloaded with a couple of orthogonal issues.  The
  usefulness of the tonerStatus variable did not warrant its own
  variable in the MIB.
  The printer group was redesigned and is included in the November
  draft ofi the MIB. The relationship between the deviceStatus object
  and the printerStatus object was refined and all the common error
  states were moved into a bit string.

o ``Other''
  It was agreed that an enumeration for ``other'' would be included
  wherever appropriate throughout the MIB.

o Re:  # of Users; What is a User?
  A discussion took place over the definition of a user.  There were
  two possibilities:  a human, or a distinct user session (possibly
  many per human).  The latter definition was chosen because it was
  1) easier to calculate and, 2) correlated better with system
  resource use.

o Processor Load
  Due to the difficulty in calculating and interpreting processor
  load using the semantics defined in the October draft, it was
  decided that hrProcessorLoad was an average percentage of load
  between 0 and 100% computed over the last minute.

o Parity Errors
  A proposal was made to add memory/disk parity errors.  After
  discussion, we decided to use the existing deviceErrors variable
  for these errors.

o 5, 15 Minute Averages
  It was suggested that averages should exist over 5 and 15 minute
  intervals.  This idea was dropped as it was possible to determine

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     these averages from the 1 minute average currently in the MIB.

   o SW Run CPU Used
     There was a proposal to add this object and general agreement that
     it was useful, but there was also a concern about the costs of
     implementation on some systems.  The resolution was to create the
     object in a new group, the optional Running Software Performance
     group.  In addition, the hrSWRunSize object was moved into this new
     group.

   o SW Installed Path
     The Group agreed that the hrSWInstalledPath object was not very
     usable, o so it was deleted.

   o SW Run Index/Status
     There was some concern that with the ability to kill processes, the
     hrSWRunIndex might not be ``unique enough'' and that the wrong
     process could be killed.  The resolution was to suggest that the
     agent use the operating system's native process identification
     scheme (i.e., the process id).

   o SNMPv2 Format
     It was agreed that the working group would not produce a document
     with the new macros defined in SNMPv2, but that the Working Group
     Chair would keep a (separate) working copy in that format to use as
     an aid in rigorously identifying conformance and grouping issues
     that should be addressed by the working group and described in
     comments in the MIB.


Open Issues


   o Networked Printer Identification
     A proposal was made that networked printers and their addresses be
     identified for all such printers ``connected'' to the system.  This
     would be useful for remote troubleshooting of printing problems.
     The debate was over what ``connected'' meant in an environment when
     network printing protocols typically require no state to be saved
     on either end.  In addition, many systems don't have any idea what
     printers their applications are accessing, especially in multiuser
     systems, where there is no common place to look for this
     information.
     No consensus was reached on whether or not to include this
     functionality.

   o Queue Monitoring
     A proposal was made to add a table for monitoring queues (print,
     mail, ...).  The three options discussed were:

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      1. Don't add any support for queue monitoring.
      2. Leverage off of similarities between queues and allocated
         memory by monitoring queues with the hrStorageTable.
      3. Add a table similar to the following:

                               HrQueueEntry ::= SEQUENCE {
                                    hrQueueIndex          INTEGER,
                                    hrQueueDescription    DisplayString,
                                    hrQueueLength         INTEGER,
                                    hrQueueServicedItems  Counter,
                                    hrQueueInsertFailures Counter
                              }



Attendees

Amatzia Ben-Artzi        [e-mail]
Steve Bush               [e-mail]
Raymond Edgerton         bellmf![e-mail]
Michael Erlinger         [e-mail]
Pete Grillo              [e-mail]
Todd Kulick              [e-mail]
Ed Reeder                [e-mail]
Jon Saperia              [e-mail]
Steven Waldbusser        [e-mail]
Walter Wong              [e-mail]



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