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Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a popular protocol for network management. It is used for collecting information from and configuring network devices such as servers, printers, hubs, switches, and routers on an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

Large networks with hundreds or even thousands of nodes are difficult to manage without a large staff to monitor every computer. SNMP, which is widely used in local area networks (LANs), lets you monitor network nodes from a management host. You can monitor network devices such as LAN switches, routers, servers, workstations, even printers.

Network Management is all about keeping the network up and running, monitoring, and controlling network devices using conventional network technology. Local management and remote management are the two ways of managing a device connected to a network. Local management demands for a human manager to indicate where the managed object is situated. When the network devices are more and the network is widespread, management becomes tedious and impossible. Therefore, there arises the need to manage the network remotely. SNMP management is an excellent way for an administrator to be proactive within their network instead of being reactive. When a fault happens within a network you can be notified right away of the problem and take care of it before a customer calls you versus having the customer call you first and reacting to their problems.

Using SNMP, one workstation running one or more management software applications can monitor management information collected by thousands of network devices. This information is used to establish the functioning of the network and also to identify the problems in the network.

Below are some of the benefits of using SNMP;

Standardized protocol: SNMP is the standard network management protocol for TCP/IP networks. Internet Protocols are open, nonproprietary standards developed through voluntary efforts by the Internet community. So is the SNMP that is actively maintained and all future enhancements to SNMP are based on existing protocol standards.

Universal acceptance: All major vendors support SNMP. All SNMP-managed devices use the same type of management interface to support a common set of network management information.

Portability: SNMP is independent of operating system and programming language. The functional design of SNMP is also portable and it defines a core set of operations that must function identically in all devices that support SNMP.

Lightweight: SNMP facilitates the addition of management capability to a device without impacting the operation of the device or its performance. SNMP management may be added to a network device with very little increase in workload and demand on system resources.

Extendibility: SNMP is a core set of operations that remain the same on all managed devices. SNMP has the capability of supporting any type of information on any type of device that may be part of any type of computer network.

Widely deployed: SNMP is one of the most popular protocols in the protocol suite that every vendor is aware of. This popularity serves as one dominant factor for its wide deployment by the vendors.

Components of SNMP

The three major components of the SNMP that form an integral part of its foundation are the network device, the agent and the manager.

Network device: A network device (switch, sever, etc…) or the Managed Object is a part of the network that requires some form of monitoring and management.

Agent: An agent is a mediator between the manager and the device. The agent resides inside the network device. It collects the management information from the device and makes it available to the manager. It is to be understood that an agent is a program that resides in the device and is not a separate entity.

A typical agent
• Implements full SNMP protocol.
• Stores and retrieves management information as defined in the MIB.
• Collects and maintains information about its local environment.
• Signals an event to the manager .
• Acts as a proxy for some non-SNMP manageable network node.

Manager: A manager or management system is a separate entity that manages the agents from a remote place. This is typically a computer that is used to run one or more network management systems. Consider an organization having its branches in different geographical locations. Administration of all the computers present in different localities would be difficult. When the System Administrator’s computer is installed with the manager and all other systems and devices across all the offices are installed with the agent, management becomes easier. The administrator has to just query the agent through its manger to know the functioning of the device.

The SNMP network management is composed of three parts to which both the management applications and agents conform. They are:

• The protocol, which defines the functioning of the basic operations of SNMP and the format of the messages exchanged by management systems and agents.
• Structure of Management Information (SMI), which is a set of rules used to specify the format for defining managed objects or the devices that are accessed using SNMP.
• Management Information Base (MIB) is a collection of definitions, which define the properties of the managed object or the device.

Keywords: Applications, Computer Network, Definition, IP Networks, ITS, network management, Port, protocol, SNMP, Software, Switches, Systems, Vendors

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