Method for encoding SNMP summary objects

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, especially FIG.
1, a concentrator 10 contains a plurality of media modules 14 and a plurality of empty slots 16 which can be filled with modules.
Each of the media modules 14 have a plurality of ports 2.
As shown in FIG.
2, a plurality of stations 3 can be connected over lines or lobes 4 to the ports 2 of media modules 14.
The concentrator 10 has a backplane 5, of which a portion is shown in FIG.
2.
The backplane 5 connects the modules 14 to form a token ring or bus network.
If the modules 14 are module-switched media modules, then the stations attached to one of the media modules could form their own network, or form a network with any of the other media modules 14.
If the module 14 is a port-switched module, then it would be possible for each station to independently connect to any network on the concentrator or form a network between any group of the stations on the port-switched module.
It is also possible to connect a plurality of concentrators to serve more users or to connect two or more networks through bridge or router modules 1.
In this way, the modules on several different concentrators can be connected to form a single ring network or users from different networks can be connected.
As shown in FIG.
3, a plurality of media modules 14 are shown connected over the backplane.
Three channels A, B, and C can be configured (the number of channels or wire/LAN (Local Area Network) groupings can be varied).
A LAN management card 118 contains a network management agent which manages the network.
As shown in FIG.
3, several different networks can be present in a concentrator, with each network being on a different set of physical wires of the backplane.
Each network can have its own LAN management card 118 with its own network management agent contained on the card.
Many media modules are now being made which allow module switching, where the entire module can switch to one of the networks configured on the backplane, or port switching where each port 2 can be individually connected to the networks configured on the backplane