Method and system for extracting status information from networked devices using the SNMP protocol

A system for extracting, using a simple network management protocol (SNMP), information associated with a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

• means for accessing a memory to obtain access information for accessing the monitored device, the access information including a type of status information to obtain from the monitored device, and an access string used for obtaining the type of status information from the monitored device;
• means for parsing the access string to determine whether the access string is empty, and to determine whether the access string includes a first predetermined string when the access string is not empty;
• if the means for parsing determines that the access string is not empty and that the access string includes the first predetermined string, means for accessing the device using a first SNMP access function to obtain a value associated with the type of status information;
• and
• if the means for parsing determines that the access string is empty or that the access string does not include the first predetermined string, means for accessing the device using a second SNMP access function to obtain the value associated with the type of status information.

A storage medium having embedded therein instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of extracting, using a simple network management protocol (SNMP), information associated with a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, the method comprising:

• accessing a memory to obtain access information for accessing the monitored device, the access information including a type of status information to obtain from the monitored device, and an access string used for obtaining the type of status information from the monitored device;
• parsing the access string to determine whether the access string is empty, and to determine whether the access string includes a first predetermined string when the access string is not empty;
• if the parsing step determines that the access string is not empty and that the access string includes the first predetermined string, accessing the device using a first SNMP access function to obtain a value associated with the type of status information;
• and
• if the parsing step determines that the access string is empty or that the access string does not include the first predetermined string, accessing the device using a second SNMP access function to obtain the value associated with the type of status information.