Snmp Configuration; 1.1 Snmp Overview; 1.1.1 Snmp Operation Mechanism; 1.1.2 Snmp Versions - H3C S5100-SI Operation Manual

1

SNMP Configuration

When configuring SNMP, go to these sections for information you are interested in:
SNMP Overview
Configuring Basic SNMP Functions
Configuring Trap-Related Functions
Enabling Logging for Network Management
Displaying SNMP
SNMP Configuration Example

1.1 SNMP Overview

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is used for ensuring the transmission of the
management information between any two network nodes. In this way, network administrators can
easily retrieve and modify the information about any node on the network. In the meantime, they
can locate faults promptly and implement the fault diagnosis, capacity planning and report
generating.
As SNMP adopts the polling mechanism and provides basic function set, it is suitable for
small-sized networks with fast-speed and low-cost. SNMP is based on User Datagram Protocol
(UDP) and is thus widely supported by many products.

1.1.1 SNMP Operation Mechanism

SNMP is implemented by two components, namely, network management station (NMS) and
agent.
An NMS can be a workstation running client program. At present, the commonly used
network management platforms include QuidView, Sun NetManager, IBM NetView, and so
on.
Agent is server-side software running on network devices (such as switches).
An NMS can send GetRequest, GetNextRequest and SetRequest messages to the agents. Upon
receiving the requests from the NMS, an agent performs Read or Write operation on the managed
object (MIB, Management Information Base) according to the message types, generates the
corresponding Response packets and returns them to the NMS.
When a network device operates improperly or changes to other state, the agent on it can also
send traps on its own initiative to the NMS to report the events.

1.1.2 SNMP Versions

Currently, SNMP agent on a switch supports SNMPv3, and is compatible with SNMPv1 and
SNMPv2c.
SNMPv3 adopts user name and password authentication.
SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c adopt community name authentication. The SNMP packets containing
invalid community names are discarded. SNMP community name is used to define the relationship
between SNMP NMS and SNMP agent. Community name functions as password. It can limit
1-1