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identifying routers with Snmp

This question is a programming question but related to networking so I figured I would post it here.
Sorry if that was a wrong move

Here it goes

I use windows snmp to identify nodes (computers,routers switches ,hubs) etc
but having found a node with say IP xx.xx.xx.xx  if I want to write
generic functions

IsRouter(),IsSwitch() etc
is there a generic OID(s) (meaning vendor independent) way of querying the node
based on which I can make a definite analysis whether a given node is a router/switch/hub
etc assuming they are SNMP enabled

Thanks
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chicagoan
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chicagoan

One quick question before I accept your answer

I was currently checking sysServices  and anding a bit flag to
see if it is a layer 3 ->(router) layer 2-> switch device etc
would this bite me down the line since these days
a lot of switches behave as routers and so on

and of course sometimes the syServices values is 0
I think that the value's usefullness for your purposes might be clouded today with wan switches and router modules in lan switches, access points and broadband router with switches built in, etc. sand as you said even though it's a mandatory field it can be implemented with a 0 value.

it reads like this:

                     A value which indicates the set of services that this entity may potentially offers. The value is a sum. This sum initially takes the value zero, Then, for each layer, L, in the range 1 through 7, that this node performs transactions for, 2 raised to (L - 1) is added to the sum. For example, a node which performs only routing functions would have a value of 4 (2^(3-1)). In contrast, a node which is a host offering application services would have a value of 72 (2^(4-1) + 2^(7-1)). Note that in the context of the Internet suite of protocols, values should be calculated accordingly: layer functionality 1 physical (e.g., repeaters) 2 datalink/subnetwork (e.g., bridges) 3 internet (e.g., supports the IP) 4 end-to-end (e.g., supports the TCP) 7 applications (e.g., supports the SMTP) For systems including OSI protocols, layers 5 and 6 may also be counted."



                     

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ASKER

chicagoan

Wow!!!!
Thanks for you input  that was great

Really helpful

Thanks again
glad i could help, send me a copy !
:)
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ASKER

sure will do :)