Snmp Configuration; Snmp Overview; Snmp Mechanism - 3Com 4500G Family Configuration Manual

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SNMP Configuration

When configuring SNMP, go to these sections for information you are interested in:

SNMP Overview

SNMP Configuration
Configuring SNMP Logging
SNMP Trap Configuration
Displaying and Maintaining SNMP
SNMP Configuration Example
SNMP Logging Configuration Example
SNMP Overview
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) offers a framework to monitor network devices through
TCP/IP protocol suite. It provides a set of basic operations in monitoring and maintaining the Internet
and has the following characteristics:
Automatic network management: SNMP enables network administrators to search and modify
information, find and diagnose network problems, plan for network growth, and generate reports on
network nodes.
SNMP shields the physical differences between various devices and thus realizes automatic
management of products from different manufacturers. Offering only the basic set of functions,
SNMP makes the management tasks independent of both the physical features of the managed
devices and the underlying networking technology. Thus, SNMP achieves effective management
of devices from different manufacturers, especially in small, high-speed and low cost network
environments.

SNMP Mechanism

An SNMP enabled network comprises a Network Management Station (NMS) and an agent.
An NMS is a station that runs the SNMP client software. It offers a user friendly interface, making it
easier for network administrators to perform most network management tasks.
An agent is a program on the device. It receives and handles requests sent from the NMS. Only
under certain circumstances, such as interface state change, will the agent inform the NMS.
An NMS manages an SNMP enabled network, whereas agents are the managed network device. They
exchange management information through the SNMP protocol.
SNMP provides the following four basic operations:
Get operation: The NMS gets the value of one or more objects of the agent through this operation.
Set operation: The NMS can reconfigure the value of one or more objects in the agent MIB
(Management Information Base) by means of this operation.
Trap operation: The agent sends traps to the NMS through this operation.
Inform operation: The NMS sends traps to other NMSs through this operation.
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