For Immediate Release
July 31, 2001
For more information, a review copy, cover art or an interview with
the authors, contact:
Kathryn Barrett (707) 829-0515 ext 387 or kathrynb@oreilly.com 


"ESSENTIAL SNMP"--HELP FOR SYSTEM AND NETWORK ADMINISTRATORS


Sebastopol, CA--Among the unrecognized acts of heroism routinely
performed by system and network administrators, wrestling with SNMP is
not the least significant. The Simple Network Management Protocol
(SNMP) provides its users with a "simple" set of operations that allows
monitoring and remote management of network devices such as routers,
switches and servers. In spite of its name, SNMP is not especially
simple to learn. "Essential SNMP" by Douglas R. Mauro and Kevin J.
Schmidt (O'Reilly, US $39.95) is one of the first books on the subject
to provide a practical introduction for system and network
administrators along with the technical background on how to use it
effectively.

As coauthor Mauro explains, "SNMP is a shared protocol that devices,
machines, and people can use to talk with each other. Every day, more
and more devices in/out of the datacenter are SNMP compatible. This
includes, but is definitely not limited to, systems {Sun, HP, IBM,
etc), network devices such as routers, hubs, and switches, and software
(Oracle, SAP, SunMC)." He continues, "I wanted to give system and
network administrators a book that they could use to learn SNMP. There
are a lot of books on the subject, but none that are aimed at the
practicing network or system administrator."

Coauthor Schmidt adds, "There currently is no book like this one on the
market. This book provides the reader with a very practical treatment
of SNMP. As the Internet grows and grows, more people are going to need
to know how to use SNMP to manage routers, servers, switches, etc."

SNMP is an Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP
networks. Since it was developed in 1988, SNMP has become the de facto
standard for Internet work management. Because it is a simple solution
requiring little code to implement, vendors can easily build SNMP
agents into their products. As the authors explain, SNMP usually is
associated with managing routers, but it's important to understand that
it can be used to manage many types of devices. SNMP can be used to
manage Unix systems, Windows systems, printers, modem racks, power
supplies, and more. Any device running software that allows the
retrieval of SNMP information can be managed. And, as Mauro says,
"There are so many admins out there that are surrounded by SNMP but
don't know what it is or how to use it. This book will give them the
knowledge!"

This new book starts with the basics of SNMP and how it works, then
provides numerous practical examples of how use it. The book covers
OIDs, MIBs, community strings, traps, and other technical elements, but
the main focus is on practical network administration: how to configure
SNMP agents and network management stations, how to use SNMP to
retrieve and modify variables on network devices, how to configure
management software to react to traps sent by managed devices, and
more. It explores both commercial and open source packages, including
HP's OpenView, Castle Rock's SNMPc, the Net-SNMP tools, Simon Leinen's
Perl SNMP support, and MRTG. Administrators will come away with ideas
for writing scripts to help them manage their networks, create managed
objects, and extend the operation of SNMP agents. In addition to SNMPv1
and v2, the book covers SNMPv3, which has just started to appear in
commercial products as of this printing.

"Essential SNMP" was written for system and network administrators who
could benefit from using SNMP to manage their equipment but who have
little or no experience with SNMP or SNMP applications. According to
the authors, almost any network, no matter how small, can benefit from
using SNMP.

Chapter 2, "A Closer Look at SNMP," is available free online at:
http://oreilly.com/catalog/esnmp/chapter/ch02.html 

For more information about the book, including Table of Contents,
index, author bio, and samples, see:  http://oreilly.com/catalog/esnmp/

For a cover graphic in jpeg format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/0596000200.jpg 

Essential SNMP 
By Douglas R. Mauro & Kevin J. Schmidt
July 2001
ISBN 0-596-00020-0, 313 pages, $39.95 (US)
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938


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