Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) v1.2Network AssuranceMedium
A network engineer wants to monitor the CPU utilization of a Cisco router over time and receive an alert if it exceeds 80% for more than 5 minutes. Which SNMP operation is best suited for setting up this proactive monitoring and alerting mechanism?
- ASNMP Walk
- BSNMP Set
- CSNMP Trap
- DSNMP Get
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. SNMP Trap
While SNMP Get can retrieve CPU utilization, to *proactively receive an alert* when a threshold is crossed, an SNMP Trap is the appropriate mechanism. The router itself is configured to send a Trap to a monitoring station when the condition (CPU > 80% for 5 mins) is met.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. SNMP Walk is used to retrieve all MIB objects within a specified branch, typically for discovery or inventory, not for threshold-based alerting.
- B. SNMP Set is used to modify a MIB object's value, which is a configuration action, not a monitoring/alerting one.
- D. SNMP Get is used to retrieve a specific MIB object's value at a given moment, not for proactive alerting.
SNMP Trap
An unsolicited message sent by an SNMP agent to an SNMP manager when a significant event occurs on the agent's device.
- Proactive notification mechanism.
- Used for critical events or threshold breaches.
- Does not require the manager to poll the agent.
Memory trick: Get to fetch, Set to change, Walk to explore, Trap for events - that's the SNMP core.