Management Information Base

A Management Information Base (MIB) is a collection of formally described objects, each of which represents a particular type of information. MIB objects can be accessed and managed with the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) through a network management system. This collection of objects contains information required by a management system and the information is stored as a set of MIB variables.

MIB object extensions are defined for each set of related entities that can be managed. They define status records for information such as traffic statistics, error counts, and the current contents of internal data structures such as the computer's IP routing table.

All MIB objects are based on a common definition of management information. This is called the Structure of Management Information (SMI) and includes the model of management information, the allowed data types and the rules for specifying classes of management information.