Hi Andrew, thanks for the information. The link to CISCO SNMP Object Navigator is broken. I am not able to access the link you have mentioned.

I downloaded a list of files from the following site,

ftp://ftp.cisco.com/pub/mibs/v2/

but am not able to make out which files would be relevant. I am looking for config information from switches such as firmware info, port info,zoneinfo etc. Could you please help me?

G'day,

CISCO-ZS-MIB is the job :-)

Cheers

Thank you. I am trying to compare SMIS and SNMP to see which can help me collect configuration information from switches. I dont see SMIS support for switches running Fabricware OS. Are there any limitations for SNMP?

Take two as it did not seem to get through..

There are some issues with SNMP and Cisco MDS switches if you are using Netview due to Cisco's concept of time. If you are using Openview, the sky is the limit for getting information. I also have my doubts about how good SMI-S really is. It does not like certain things about the MDS such as VSAN information and multiple switches in the fabric. A few companies put it down to Cisco not really towing the line but I can't really comment on that.

Check out:

ftp://ftp-sj.cisco.com/pub/mibs/supportlists/mds9000/MDS9000MIBSupportList.html

It gets complicated if you are not using something like Openview due to the dependancies that are needed and there are quite a few when it comes to Cisco. I should know as I spent 6 years as a Openview specialist and am certified in it.. Relying on some other "less expensive" products to do snmpget or snmpwalk, etc or recieve traps can get messy and you don't want to miss some events. I know that Andrew will argue the point on that....

I always say if you have spent a lot of money on storage, you probably have a fair sized IP network and most people manage it in some way.

Stephen

Thank you Stephen. I am actually trying to develop a tool for obtaining configuration information from cisco fibre channel switches as part of my project. From what I understand , SMIS for CISCO switches is not well defined and I also dont see it widely supported for all firmware versions. I am assuming SNMP is a better choice in this respect. I am trying to find out the variety of data that can be collected using SNMP vs SMIS. Any pointers in this regard?

Config info can be gotten with RME so if you have a Cisco IP network, there is a good chance that you might already have it. It automatically collects configs of any Cisco switch/router and you can be used for version control etc. I know you can download it if you have an account in Cisco but I am not sure what it costs. I have always used it as part of the Cisco Works suite.

I don't know of the range of differences between SNMP and SMI-S as I have never had both types of management solution in the same spot at the same time. Silly eh?

Stehpen

:) I dont have a CISCO IP network. I am trying to find a solution to get configuration information from various switches in a SAN environment. Hoping to determine if SMIS/SNMP would be efficient.

I wont argue ;)...

I just know how much openview costs! :-)

I've never liked to pay extreme money for software :-)

Back in the good ole days I used to be able to use SNMP to capture configs on Cisco IP switches and routers. That was before I got RME. So I wonder can you do that with the MDS switches. Given that RME works on a similar principle, it might be worth giving it a go.

Have a look at:

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/477/SNMP/copy_configs_snmp.shtml

You don't need Openview for that as any snmpwalk such as Net-SNMP. I don't have any MDS switches to test this on so I don't know if it will work.

I don't know of any SMI-S management software that does not come bundled in some horribly expensive software so what were you going to use? We use AppIQ (HDS HSSM or HP Storage Essentials) and I don't know if it can capture the configs. It just collects data and events and you can provision the switch if you are VERY game.

If you have HP SIM, it can do Cisco SMI-S stuff also but thats all I know about the product. I am looking at using it for Brocade switches just to see what it does.

Stephen

I was going through SNMP support for cisco switches at ftp://ftp-sj.cisco.com/pub/mibs/supportlists/mds9000/MDS9000MIBSupportList.html

Looks like Fabricware OS release 2.1(2) does not have CISCO-ZSMIB.my. So I cannot collect zone information in this case.

Does Fabricware support SMIS? Sorry if my question is repetitive.