Fault management API for SNMP agents

In previous works we have concluded that fault management SNMP integration state of the art is not idyllic from the integrator's point of view. Every umbrella fault management system has to implement number of different SNMP manager modules capable to communicate with different SNMP agents, irrespective of the fact that management information structure is almost the same among those agents (e.g., alarm message always consists of start time, perceived severity, probable cause, additional information, affected network element info and other attributes). In this paper, we are going to present Fault management API (Application Programming Interface) for SNMP agents (FM SNMP API). This C+ + API is aimed to be used during SNMP agent software development process. Using this API, software developers will focus on fault management data handling while SNMP support for fault management will be covered by FM SNMP API. That approach should decrease SNMP agent software development time, but also it should simplify SNMP management process and new equipment integration into umbrella fault management systems. This paper is structured as follows: first, API architecture will be described. After that, functions to be used by developers are described briefly. Finally, FM API pilot use case will be presented.