The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of SNMP Polling

Practitioners in the field of quantum mechanics appreciate the famous Heisenberg uncertainty principle which states that it is not possible to determine simultaneously and exactly the position and momentum coordinates of a particle. The product of the two uncertainties is always greater than a minimum value approximately the size of Planck’s constant (6.6256x10^-34). Quantum physicists know this is because the act of measurement disturbs the process being measured.

Network managers don’t have a formal-sounding principle to explain it, but you know that using SNMP management software on a network disturbs it. Polling the network at a rate that lets us measure its real behavior disturbs it so badly that you can use a fairly timid polling interval of five minutes. And your rule of thumb is to limit SNMP traffic to 10% of the line speed. What do you disturb when you use NNM to poll devices? Consider the following list: