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7.6.5 SNMP agent
Overview
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is the most widely used network management
protocol in TCP/IP networks. SNMP enables you to remotely manage all your network devices
compliant with this protocol, such as monitoring the network status, changing network device
settings, and receive network event alarms.
SNMP allows automatic management of devices from various vendors regardless of physical
differences among the devices.
SNMP Management Framework
The SNMP management framework consists of SNMP manager, SNMP agent, and Management
Information Base (MIB).
− SNMP manager: It is a system that controls and monitors network nodes using the SNMP
protocol. The SNMP manager most widely used in network environments is Network
Management System (NMS). An NMS can be a dedicated network management server, or
an application that implements management functions in a network device.
− SNMP agent: It is a software module in a managed device. The module is used to manage
data about the device and report the management data to an SNMP manager.
− MIB: It is a collection of managed objects. It defines a series of attributes of managed
objects, including names, access permissions, and data types of objects. Each SNMP agent
has its MIB. An SNMP manager can read and/or write objects in the MIB based on the
permissions assigned to the SNMP manager.
An SNMP manager manages SNMP agents in an SNMP network. The SNMP manager exchanges
management information with the SNMP agents using the SNMP protocol.
Basic SNMP Operations
The device allows the following basic SNMP operations:
− Get: An SNMP manager performs this operation to query the SNMP agent of the device
for values of one or more objects.
− Set: An SNMP manager performs this operation to set values of one or more objects in
the MIB of the SNMP agent of the device.
