Glossary

This glossary defines terms and abbreviations used in this publication.

AES

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

An NIST-standard cryptographic cipher that uses a block length of 128 bits and multiple key lengths of 128, 192, or 256 bits to encrypt data.

agent

An SNMP-capable software module that resides in a managed device. The agent provides monitored information, responding to requests from the manager and sending SNMP traps to a recipient.

community string

Applications use community strings for access control. The manager includes the community string in its SNMP messages to an agent. This can be a maximum of 31 alpha-numeric characters.

DES

See Data Encryption Standard (DES).

DHCP

See Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

DNS

See Domain Name System (DNS).

Data Encryption Standard (DES)

An NIST cryptographic cipher that uses a 56-bit key.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

A set of rules to allow a network attached device to request and obtain an IP address from a server which has a list of addresses available for assignment.

Domain Name System (DNS)

A system that translates IP addresses into human readable computer names.

engine ID

An administratively unique identifier of an SNMPv3 engine used for identification, but not for addressing. In general, the authoritative engineId is from the SNMP agent that sends the traps (such as the library).

FTP

See File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

An internet protocol for transferring files between two hosts over a TCP/IP network.

gateway

A device on a network that serves as an entrance to another network.

HTTP

See HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

host keyword

Currently, the host keyword is limited to the machine's IP address. The maximum keyword length is 31 alphanumeric characters.

HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

The protocol most often used to transfer information from World Wide Web servers to browsers

See Internet Protocol (IP).

Internet Protocol (IP)

A data-oriented, network layer protocol in the internet protocol suite. It is encapsulated in a data link layer protocol such as Ethernet.

MD5

See Message Digest 5 (MD5).

MIB

See management information base (MIB).

managed device

A device that provides monitored information and controlled operations using SNMP. StorageTek libraries are managed devices.

management information base (MIB)

An ASCII text file organized hierarchically that describes the elements (configuration and statistical information) of a managed device. When a manager requests information, or a managed device generates a trap, the MIB translates the numerical strings into readable text that identifies each data object within the message. For StorageTek libraries, a copy of the MIB is loaded with firmware and stored on the library processor card.

management station

A system or server that has an SNMP application installed.

manager

Provides the communication link between the systems administrator and the managed devices on the network. A manager station or server allows the systems administrator to get information about the device through the MIB and to receive traps from an agent. The manager provides the managing, monitoring, and receiving roles of an SNMP-capable network.

Message Digest 5 (MD5)

A popular one-hash function that is used to create a message digest for digital signatures. MD5 is faster than SHA, but is considered less secure.

notification

A message that reports a problem, error, or significant event that occurred within a device, also called a trap. See "trap".

netmask

A hierarchical partitioning of the network address space.

PDU

See protocol data units.

protocol data units

A limited number of commands that follow a simple request and response exchange to communicate between the manager and the agent. For example, ”get” is a request for information of a specific variable.

recipient

A location on a manager where the SNMP agent sends traps. This location is defined by the combination of either the IP address or DNS name and the port number. The default recipient port number is 162.

SHA

See Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-1/SHA).

Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-1/SHA)

A popular one-hash algorithm used to create digital signatures. SHA is more secure, but slightly slower than MD5.

TCP

See Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

One of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite. With TCP, applications on networked hosts can create connections to one another over which they can exchange data. The protocol guarantees reliable and in-order delivery of sender to receiver data (see also User Datagram Protocol).

trap

A message that reports a problem, error, or significant event that occurred within the device. These messages are sent by the agent to a manager. Also called a notification.

trap level string

The list of trap levels. The maximum length is 31 alpha-numeric characters.

UDP

See User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

One of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite. Using UDP, programs on networked computers can send short messages sometimes known as datagrams to one another.

UDP does not provide the reliability and ordering guarantees that TCP does. Datagrams may arrive out of order or go missing without notice. Without the overhead of checking if every packet actually arrived, UDP is faster and more efficient for many lightweight or time-sensitive purposes.

UDP, like TCP, runs on top of IP networks and is one of the core protocols in the Internet protocol suite. UDP enables network-based devices to send short messages faster and more efficiently for many lightweight and time-sensitive applications.

WWN

See World Wide Name (WWN).

World Wide Name (WWN)

A unique identifier in a Fibre Channel or Serial Attached SCSI storage network. Each WWN is an 8-byte number derived from IEEE- and vendor-supplied information