Net::SNMP method efficiency

LazerRed has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I have a question about the module Net::SNMP (4.0.3). I'm currently using this module to query a compaq server, to gather temperature metrics from it's various onboard thermoresistors. Below is my current method:

    foreach my $probe ( 1 .. $probe_count ) {
        my $location = "$thermbase.1.3.0.$probe";
        my $temp     = "$thermbase.1.4.0.$probe";
        my $thresh   = "$thermbase.1.5.0.$probe";
        my $cond     = "$thermbase.1.6.0.$probe";
        my $result   =
          $session->get_request(
            -varbindlist => [ $location, $temp, $thresh, $cond ] );
        if ( !defined($result) ) {
            printf( "ERROR: %s.\n", $session->error );
            $session->close;
            return;
        }
[download]

This loops $probe_count times, and pushes the results onto an array later in the script. I'm only grabbing 4 things out of a table that has 8 objects. My question is, Would it be more efficient to do a get_table in one go (and dig around in the returned hash), even though I do not want every piece of data in that table? Essentialy throwing out half the data I collect?

Whip me, Beat me, Make me use Y-ModemG.

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Re: Net::SNMP method efficiency by bobn (Chaplain) on Jul 22, 2003 at 02:08 UTC
It' not more efficient for the hardware or the network. When you walk an SNMP table, you do it by retriving the first value, then sending a get_next over and over until a value is received that isn't in the table. So however many entries are in the table, you've sent that many requests and received that many responses. Update: If your're using other than v1 of SNMP, what I sadi above may be untrue. --Bob Niederman, http://bob-n.com	[reply]
Re: Re: Net::SNMP method efficiency by zengargoyle (Deacon) on Jul 22, 2003 at 02:14 UTC
true, unless you can use SNMPv2/3 bulk(get/walk) commands, then you just might get them in all in one packet. or at least get N values per packet vs 1 value per packet.	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: Net::SNMP method efficiency by bobn (Chaplain) on Jul 22, 2003 at 02:20 UTC
oops, found out the same thing, updated before seeing your response. Unfortunately, most implmentations are v1, so far as I know. The standards never coalesced and the vendors sat out the battle. --Bob Niederman, http://bob-n.com	[reply]