Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a standard protocol used for network management. SNMP allows managers and agents to communicate: managers send requests to agents, and agents respond to queries from managers. Additionally, agents can notify managers when specific events occur using notifications called traps.

SNMP agents handle requests to get and set the values of variables for managed objects. Each variable has a single value, and values are generally strings or integers, although they may also be other types.

Variables are kept in a global hierarchy, and each variable has a unique number under its parent. The full name of a variable (including all its parents) is called the Object Identifier (OID). All OIDs that are owned by Sybase begin with 1.3.6.1.4.1.897.

The list of OIDs that an agent supports, including their names, types, and other information are stored in a file called a Management Information Base (MIB).

A MIB is a database that stores network management information about managed objects. The MIB is separate from the SQL Anywhere database you are monitoring using the SQL Anywhere SNMP Extension Agent. The values of MIB objects can be changed or retrieved using SNMP. MIB objects are organized in a hierarchy with the most general information about the network located at the top level of the hierarchy. The SQL Anywhere SNMP Extension Agent supports the following MIBs: