What is SNMP?

SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a component of the Internet Protocol Suite commonly known as TCP/IP, defined by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Developed in 1988 to provide network-device-monitoring capability for TCP/IP-based networks, SNMP was approved as an internet standard in 1990 by the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and has been in wide use since that time. More recently, Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX)-based networks have added support for SNMP. Currently, most network equipment vendors provide SNMP support in their products.

In a typical SNMP usage, there are number of systems or devices to manage, and one or more systems managing them. A software component called an agent runs on every managed system or devices and sends information back to the managing system through SNMP. SNMP agents expose management data on managed systems or devices—typically: memory, configuration, process, route and many more. Protocol also allows active...