RFC 1089

RFC 1089: SNMP over Ethernet 🎀

okay bestie, the title block first because it's the ID card for this doc 🪪

• RFC number: 1089 🔢
• Title: SNMP over Ethernet 🌐
• Authors: M. Schoffstall (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), C. Davin (MIT Laboratory for Computer Science), M. Fedor (NYSERNet, Inc.), and J. Case (University of Tennessee at Knoxville) 👩‍💻
• Series: Network Working Group 🫶
• Category: experimental, since the memo says it describes an experimental method 🧪
• Date: February 1989 📅
• Obsoletes / Updates: the title block doesn't list anything it obsoletes or updates 🙈

Status of This Memo ✨

so this memo is basically saying: here's an experimental way to run SNMP (the Simple Network Management Protocol, specified in [1]) over Ethernet MAC layer framing [2] instead of the usual Internet UDP/IP stack 🦋. Why would you want that? It's for LAN-based network elements that don't support any protocols above the MAC sublayer 🧚. Distribution of this memo is unlimited, so share it with everyone 💖.

Overview and Rational 🌸

SNMP has been a total success at managing Internet-capable network elements that run the stack at least up through UDP, the connectionless Internet transport layer protocol 👑. The original design is actually flexible, because SNMP can run over pretty much any reasonable transport mechanism (not necessarily a transport protocol) that supports bi-directional flow and addressability 🔥.

BUT there are tons of non-Internet-capable network elements sitting in local networks, like repeaters and wiring concentrators 🙈. They have addressability AND programmable intelligence, and they're widely used and increasingly important, yet for the most part they're invisible except through proprietary mechanisms 😭. That's the gap this memo is trying to fill 💅.

Specification 💜

okay this is the core part, so pay attention bestie 👀. Almost all Internet-capable network elements use the same encapsulation mechanism for the Internet protocol stack, no matter whether they follow the physical characteristics of Ethernet or 802.3. That mechanism is specified in [3] and [4] 🍓. This specification keeps that same style by having XEROX assign 33100 (hexadecimal 814C) to the Ethernet Type field for SNMP ✨. So the data portion of the Ethernet frame is just a standard SNMP message as specified in [1] 🫶.

References 📚

     [1]  Case, J., Fedor, M., Schoffstall, M., and J. Davin, "A Simple
          Network Management Protocol", RFC-1067, University of
          Tennessee at Knoxville, NYSERNet, Inc., Rensselaer Polytechnic
          Institute, and Proteon, Inc., August 1988.

     [2]  DEC, "The Ethernet - A Local Area Network", Version 2.0,
          Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel Corporation, Xerox
          Corporation.

     [3]  Hornig, C., "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams
          over Ethernet Networks", RFC-894, Symbolics, April 1984.

     [4]  Postel, J., and J. Reynolds, "A Standard for the Transmission
          of IP Datagrams over IEEE 802 Networks", RFC-1042, USC
          Information Sciences Institute, February 1988.

Authors' Addresses 🪄

these are the people behind it, so you can totally reach out 🥰

   Marty Schoffstall
   NYSERNET Inc.
   Rensselaer Technology Park
   165 Jordan Road
   Troy, NY 12180

   Phone: (518) 276-2654

   EMail: schoff@stonewall.nyser.net


   Chuck Davin
   MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, NE43-507
   545 Technology Square
   Cambridge, MA 02139

   Phone: (617) 253-6020

   EMail: jrd@ptt.lcs.mit.edu
   Mark Fedor
   Nysernet, Inc.
   Rensselaer Technology Park
   125 Jordan Road
   Troy, NY 12180
   (518) 283-8860

   Phone: (518) 283-8860

   EMail: fedor@patton.NYSER.NET


   Jeff Case
   University of Tennessee Computing Center
   Associate Director
   200 Stokely Management Center
   Knoxville, TN 37996-0520

   Phone: (615) 974-6721

   EMail: case@UTKUX1.UTK.EDU