MANAGEMENT VIA SNMP
SNMP Protocol
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a communica- tion protocol designed specifically for the purpose of managing devices or other elements on a network. Network equipment commonly managed with SNMP includes hubs, switches, bridges, routers and host computers. SNMP is typically used to configure these devices for proper operation in a network environment, as well as monitor them to evaluate performance and detect potential problems.
Managed entities supporting SNMP typically contain software which runs locally on the device and is referred to as an agent. The agent monitors and allows control of the functionality of the device. A defined set of variables, referred to as objects, is maintained by the agent and used to manage the device. These objects are defined in a Management Information Base (MIB) which allows for a standard presentation of information controlled by the agent over the network.
The software used to access the information maintained by the SNMP agent is referred to as the manager. This software typically runs on a
There are three main operations defined in SNMP. Operations which read information from the managed device, such as may be used to obtain status or statistical data, are called
GET operations. Operations that change a functional parame- ter on the device, such as may be used to configure security access to the device or to initiate a self test, are referred to as SET operations. GET and SET operations are initiated only by
