About GetBulk

The SNMP v2 and SNMP v3 GetBulk command enables more efficient data transfer. When the SNMP Helper is enabled to use GetBulk, this decreases the time taken for the discovery data collection phases. Use of GetBulk also increases polling efficiency.

Configuring the SNMP Helper to use GetBulk reduces the resource footprint of Network Manager in the following ways:
  • It reduces the impact on management network because fewer SNMP packets are exchanged.
  • It reduces the impact on managed devices because fewer SNMP packets are processed.
  • It reduces the CPU time required by the Network Manager processes such as the Discovery engine, ncp_disco, and the Polling engine, ncp_poller, due to reduced overheads.

Use of GetBulk decreases the time taken for the discovery data collection phases as a large percentage of the time required for data collection is taken up waiting for packets to traverse the network. This significantly reduces the time taken to collect data for large tables, such as interface and routing tables.