Fore-FAST-MIB

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Category: ATM, Vendor: Fore Systems (ATM)

Description: Fore Systems FAST (Fore ATM Switch Technology) proprietary MIB providing internal switch fabric performance and configuration objects.

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What Is Fore-FAST-MIB?

Fore-FAST-MIB is a proprietary Fore Systems (later Marconi) MIB module for the FAST (FORE ATM Switch Technology) internal switch fabric on ForeRunner ATM switches. It exposes interface-level framing mode and administrative status objects alongside IWF (Interworking Function) statistics counters for cell, octet, and packet traffic plus header lookup and resource failure error counts. Network administrators use it to monitor the operational health and traffic performance of the internal switch fabric, watching for rising error counters such as header lookup errors and resource failures that indicate fabric congestion or hardware faults. It builds on standard IF-MIB-style interface table conventions while adding ATM-fabric-specific extensions unique to FORE's architecture. It is typically deployed in legacy ATM switch fabrics from FORE Systems/Marconi carrier and enterprise ATM networks. Engineers can download the Fore-FAST-MIB file directly to load it into their MIB browser.

IPNetwork Monitor allows you to monitor SNMP objects defined in Fore-FAST-MIB. Use the built-in SNMP Monitoring Browser to explore available variables, view their current values and descriptions, and select the objects you want to monitor. You can then create SNMP monitors, configure thresholds, and receive alerts when monitored values change.

Supported Devices

Fore Systems/Marconi ForeRunner ATM switch

Monitoring Examples

An admin polling foreFastIfTable/foreFastIfEntry can check foreFastIfFramingMode and foreFastIfAdminStatus to confirm fabric interfaces are correctly configured and enabled. Polling foreFastIwfStatsTable/foreFastIwfStatsEntry yields foreFastIwfTxCells, foreFastIwfTxOctets, and foreFastIwfTxPackets to track fabric throughput, while a spike in foreFastIwfTxHdrLookupErr or foreFastIwfTxResourceFail signals internal switching fabric errors or resource exhaustion. These counters help detect a failing or overloaded ATM switch fabric before it causes broader network outages.

What Can Be Monitored

interface framing mode
interface admin status
fabric transmit cells/octets/packets
header lookup errors
resource failure counts

Imported Objects

From Fore-Common-MIB

asx	OBJECT-IDENTITY

From IF-MIB

ifIndex

OBJECT-TYPE

From SNMPv2-SMI

Counter32
OBJECT-TYPE

How to Use in IPNetwork Monitor

Example using foreFastIwfTxCells OID:

Select a Fore Systems (later Marconi) ForeRunner ATM switch (internal FAST switch fabric) as the target host to create a monitor — the SNMP service should be up and running on it. Click New Monitor, then check SNMP Custom on the Favorites tab, click Next, and confirm the host. On the next page, click Select... to open the built-in SNMP MIB Browser and type foreFastIwfTxCells into the Find box to locate it in the OID tree, selecting the specific row/instance you want to monitor since this is a table column, then select it and click OK. The number of cells that have arrived at the ATM SAP from the upper layer. On the monitor's Main parameters page you can set the target's SNMP port (default 161), credentials, polling interval, and other settings — see the SNMP Monitor help for details. On the State conditions and Alerting tabs, configure when the monitor should change state and trigger an alert; since this is a Counter32-type OID, Value bounds is the most useful condition here — trigger an alert if the counter increases sharply between polls relative to its normal baseline, since an unexpected spike often reflects a real change in traffic or activity. Click Finish to create the monitor; you can adjust any parameter later.

OIDs

OID symbolic	OID numeric	Type	Access	Description
foreFastGroup	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21
foreFastIfTable	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.1		not-accessible	A table containing FAST interface configuration and status.
foreFastIfEntry	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.1.1		not-accessible	A table entry containing the FAST interface information.
INT foreFastIfFramingMode	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.1.1.1	INTEGER	read-only	Indicates the operational Framing mode on this interface.
INT foreFastIfAdminStatus	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.1.1.2	INTEGER	read-write	Indicates the admin status of this interface.
foreFastIwfStatsTable	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2		not-accessible	A table containing Fast IWF interface Statistics
foreFastIwfStatsEntry	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1		not-accessible	A table entry containing the FastIwf statistics.
C32 foreFastIwfTxCellsEx	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.1	Counter32	read-only	The number of cells that have arrived at the ATM SAP from the upper layer.
C32 foreFastIwfTxOctets	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.2	Counter32	read-only	The number of octets that the FAST Packet to ATM cells layer has passed to the lower layer.
C32 foreFastIwfTxPackets	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.3	Counter32	read-only	The number of pkts that the FAST Packet to ATM cells layer has passed to the lower layer.
C32 foreFastIwfTxHdrLookupErr	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.4	Counter32	read-only	The number of cells that the FAST Packet to ATM Cells layer has discarded due to addressing errors.
C32 foreFastIwfTxResourceFail	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.5	Counter32	read-only	The number of cells that the FAST Packet To ATM Cells layer has discarded due to resource limitations.
C32 foreFastIwfRxCells	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.6	Counter32	read-only	The number of cells that the ATM SAP has passed to the upper layer.
C32 foreFastIwfRxOctets	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.7	Counter32	read-only	The number of octets that the FAST Packet to ATM Cells layer has received from the lower layer.
C32 foreFastIwfRxPackets	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.8	Counter32	read-only	The number of FAST Packet to ATM Cells layer has received from the lower layer.
C32 foreFastIwfRxHdrLookupErr	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.9	Counter32	read-only	The number of packets that the FAST Packet to ATM Cells layer has discarded due to addressing errors.
C32 foreFastIwfRxResourceFail	1.3.6.1.4.1.326.2.2.1.1.21.2.1.10	Counter32	read-only	The number of packets that the FAST Packet to ATM Cells layer has discarded due to resource limitations.

RFC description

Marconi/Fore FAST interface MIB for FAST IWF (Interworking Function) configuration and statistics monitoring.

Start monitoring Fore Systems (later Marconi) ForeRunner ATM switch (internal FAST switch fabric) with a free 30-day trial of IPNetwork Monitor. Import MIBs, browse SNMP OIDs, create custom SNMP monitors, configure alerts, and monitor any SNMP-enabled network device from a single console.

Download Fore-FAST-MIB