SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a protocol for managing the transfer of information in networks, especially for use in LAN, depending on the version chosen. Its usefulness in network management comes from the fact that it allows the collection of information about the devices connected to the network in a standardized way in a great variety of types of hardware and software. Almost no network administrator forgoes SNMP; quite the contrary: most strongly trust this protocol because it is supported by many types of devices from multiple different manufacturers, allowing them to achieve comprehensive monitoring thanks to SNMP technology.
Currently, there are three main versions of this protocol. The first version was developed quite early, in the late 80’s called SNMP v1, taking SGMP as its base (RFC 1028), and was widely accepted and used. In fact it is still in use today, almost 30 years later, which is almost an eternity in the world of computing. Then we have the SNMP v2 which supports 64-bit counters, but sends critical data in the form of clear text, so it does not help in terms of security and finally we have the SNMP v3, defined in 2002, it includes the advantages of SNMP v2c and provides security solutions such as user accounts, authentication, and optional packet data encryption. Thanks to these improvements, SNMP v3 becomes the recommended version of SNMP in terms of security.
An administrator or management system is a separate entity responsible for communicating with the network devices implemented by the SNMP agent. Normally it is a computer that is used to run one or more network management systems, it has functionalities such as:
▸Consultation Agents
▸Get responses from agents
▸Set variables in agents
▸Recognize asynchronous events from agents
This protocol is undoubtedly one of the widely accepted protocols for managing and monitoring network elements. Most professional-grade network elements come with an SNMP agent included. These agents must be enabled and configured to communicate with the network management system (NMS).
The agent is a program that is packaged within the network element that also fulfills the functions of:
▸Collect management information about your local environment
▸Stores and retrieves management information as defined in the MIB.
▸Report an event to the administrator.
▸Acts as a proxy for some non-SNMP manageable network nodes.
In order to manage a network, administrators need certain information about it, and this is where this protocol offers its greatest value, as it gathers all the data from multiple devices and allows them to be put into context. Thanks to this you can track problems, make decisions based on truthful information and take control when necessary. That is what network management is all about, and therefore every system administrator will benefit from using SNMP to monitor them.
Also read:
Telnet Protocol – A dedicated management tool
FTP Protocol, Be very careful of its risks
