INTERFACETOPN-MIB

MIB Reference — IPNetwork Monitor · Updated October 06, 2026

All MIBs › INTERFACETOPN-MIB

Organization: IETF RMON MIB Working Group

Last Updated: 2001-03-27

Category: Network Interfaces, Network Monitoring (RMON)

Description: Provides a sorted list of network interfaces ranked by programmable criteria, extending RMON for interface parameter monitoring.

IPNetwork Monitor uses several OIDs from this MIB in network discovery and polling the applicable devices. Start monitoring INTERFACETOPN-MIB with a free 30-day trial of IPNetwork Monitor.

What Is INTERFACETOPN-MIB?

INTERFACETOPN-MIB is a vendor-neutral, RMON/SMON-extension MIB that lets a monitoring device sort and report the top N network interfaces ranked by an administrator-chosen performance variable, across a multi-device implementation. It exposes configuration objects for defining the ranking variable and sample type, a normalization mechanism for comparing interfaces of different speeds, and a results table of the ranked top interfaces along with related notifications. It is used to monitor interface-level performance, directly surfacing which interfaces are the busiest or most error-prone at a given moment, which is valuable for pinpointing congestion or fault hotspots without having to poll every interface individually. It explicitly extends the RMON (RFC 2819) and SMON (RFC 2613) MIBs and reuses IF-MIB interface identification conventions. It is deployed on RMON/SMON-capable network probes or switches that support cross-device Top-N interface reporting for network performance troubleshooting. Engineers implementing or auditing this functionality typically reference the INTERFACETOPN-MIB RFC/standard documentation for the authoritative specification.

IPNetwork Monitor allows you to monitor SNMP objects defined in INTERFACETOPN-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

  • vendor-neutral, standards-based MIB, not tied to a specific manufacturer
  • RMON/SMON-capable network switches and probes

Monitoring Examples

An administrator would set interfaceTopNObjectVariable to a counter such as ifInOctets and interfaceTopNObjectSampleType to define the ranking metric, then poll the interfaceTopNObjects table once interfaceTopNTimeRemaining reaches zero to retrieve the ranked list of top-utilization interfaces. interfaceTopNNormalizationFactor and interfaceTopNNormalizationReq let interfaces of differing speeds be compared fairly. interfaceTopNCaps indicates what ranking capabilities the device supports before a request is configured.

What Can Be Monitored

  • top-N interfaces by chosen performance variable
  • sample type used for ranking
  • normalization factor across interface speeds
  • time remaining in current sampling interval
  • Top-N ranking notifications
Imported Objects

From HCNUM-TC

CounterBasedGauge64

From RMON-MIB

OwnerString
rmonOBJECT-IDENTITY

From SNMPv2-CONF

MODULE-COMPLIANCE
OBJECT-GROUP

From SNMPv2-SMI

Gauge32
Integer32
MODULE-IDENTITY
OBJECT-TYPE

From SNMPv2-TC

RowStatus
TimeStamp
TruthValue
OIDs

RFC description

Generates ranked interface reports for RMON and SMON monitoring by sorting devices based on traffic and error metrics.

Start monitoring Vendor-neutral IETF RMON/SMON standard (Top-N interface reporting on probes/switches) 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 INTERFACETOPN-MIB