A Complete Overview of SNMP

Author: James J. Adams

For network systems, supervising the current status of the network, devices and the traffic is a must. And for this reason, one should understand how SNMP works, and how it makes the job of monitoring data simple.

Basis function of SNMP:

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) was developed as part of many Internet protocols. Nowadays, it’s used widely to control devices connected to various kinds of network systems.

How Simple Network Management Protocol work?

Let’s have a look at an example of how SNMP works. Imagine that there’s an NMS (network management system), and it has many "mini networks" affixed to it. There’s a steady flow of data moving forward and backward, which should be controlled by the major network system. To make this procedure simple, an SNMP agent is installed in all of these network components.

Each SNMP component has diverse responsibilities, but what they basically perform is offer feedback info on each network component to the mainstream network. The info that’s processed comprises relaying facts regarding accessible system resources, programs running, memory, traffic etc. All the mainstream operating systems, from UNIX to Windows, could be configured to have SNMP components installed.

SNMP editions:

From its foundation in 1988, Simple Network Management Protocol has undergone many modifications. Whereas most of the network systems avail of SNMPv1 & SNMPv2, some other reforms like SNMPv2u & SNMPv2 allow security for users.

Usual elements of an SNMP:

Relying on the network, a Simple Network Management Protocol could have many elements, but even the simplest have the following:

  • Network elements – this is the SNMP component. The info contained here is what‘s transmitted back to the NMS (network management system). Parts that can comprise a component range from printers to routers to hubs.
  • Agent – this is the program that’s in the network component that makes the transmission of data to the NMS. Its main function is to check the diverse aspects & changeable in each network component.

Instances of SNMP messages:

There’re many kinds of SNMP messages that could be released or developed by the major network. Some of the messages are:

  • SNMP TRAPs – this’s a distinctive message sent to the major network system via one of the components it’s controlling in case it falls short to function appropriately or hardware malfunction takes place.
  • SNMP GET - This message is utilized by the major network to obtain data from 1 of the other network components. To modify some statistics, SNMP SET is used whereas SNMP MIB is utilized to adjust the changeable in both software and hardware.

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