Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: Incorrect
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is widely used to monitor and manage routers, switches, servers and many other networked devices. A central concept in SNMP is the Management Information Base (MIB), which defines the variables that can be read or modified on a managed device. This question presents a statement about whether the MIB is part of every SNMP managed device and asks you to judge if that statement is correct.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
In SNMP, the Management Information Base is the conceptual database of managed objects on a device. It is defined by a collection of MIB modules that specify object identifiers, data types and semantics. Every SNMP managed device implements an SNMP agent that accesses local resources (interfaces, CPU statistics, routing tables and so on) and exposes them as variables arranged in a MIB tree. While the MIB may not always be stored as a literal database file, the MIB view is logically present on each managed device. Therefore, it is misleading and incorrect to say that the MIB is not part of every SNMP managed device.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that SNMP operates in a manager–agent model. The manager sends Get, Set and other requests; the agent responds with values defined in the MIB.
Step 2: For the agent to respond, the device must know which variables exist and how to fetch or modify them. This knowledge is described by the MIB definitions.
Step 3: Although the MIB is often described as a conceptual store, from an architectural point of view, every SNMP enabled device has some form of MIB representation and implementation.
Step 4: Therefore, saying that the MIB is not part of every SNMP managed device contradicts the basic SNMP model.
Step 5: Conclude that the statement is incorrect.
Verification / Alternative check:
SNMP literature describes the agent as maintaining a local Management Information Base that the manager can query. Even minimal SNMP implementations support standard MIBs such as MIB-II for basic system and interface information. Devices without any MIB objects exposed would not be SNMP manageable in practice. This supports the conclusion that the MIB is indeed part of every SNMP managed device.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Choosing Correct would imply that some SNMP managed devices lack any MIB, which would make SNMP communication meaningless. Such devices would not conform to the SNMP architecture.
Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes confuse the conceptual MIB on a device with separate MIB text files used by management stations for decoding. The compiled or conceptual MIB on the device is different from these text descriptions. Another pitfall is to think of the MIB as optional because devices may support only a subset of possible MIB modules. However, even a subset is still a MIB, so every SNMP managed device has one.
Final Answer:
The statement 'Management Information Base is not a part of every SNMP managed device' is Incorrect, because every SNMP managed device conceptually maintains a MIB of managed objects that the SNMP agent exposes.
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