Simple Network Management Protocol; Snmp Overview - Planet GS-5220 Series User Manual

4.3 Simple Network Management Protocol

4.3.1 SNMP Overview

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application layer protocol that facilitates the exchange
of management information between network devices. It is part of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite. SNMP enables network administrators to manage network performance, find
and solve network problems, and plan for network growth.
An SNMP-managed network consists of three key components: Network management stations (NMSs), SNMP
agents, Management information base (MIB) and network-management protocol:
Network management stations (NMSs): Sometimes called consoles, these devices execute management
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applications that monitor and control network elements. Physically, NMSs are usually engineering
workstation-caliber computers with fast CPUs, megapixel color displays, substantial memory, and abundant
disk space. At least one NMS must be present in each managed environment.
Agents: Agents are software modules that reside in network elements. They collect and store management
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information such as the number of error packets received by a network element.
Management information base (MIB): A MIB is a collection of managed objects residing in a virtual
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information store. Collections of related managed objects are defined in specific MIB modules.
Network-management protocol: A management protocol is used to convey management information
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between agents and NMSs. SNMP is the Internet community's de facto standard management protocol.
SNMP Operations
SNMP itself is a simple request/response protocol. NMSs can send multiple requests without receiving a
response.
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