BASIC COMPONENTS OF SNMP AND

THEIR FUNCTIONALITIES
SNMP is one of the most widely accepted protocols to manage and monitor network
elements. Its an application-layer protocol by the IAB (Internet Architecture Board) in
RFC1157 for exchanging administration info from network devices. In this article, we will
take a good look at SNMPs basic components & their functionalities. Simple Network
management Protocol consists of SNMP manager, Managed devices, SNMP agent,
Management Information Base (MIB).

SNMP manager:
A manager is a separate unit thats accountable to communicate with the SNMP agent
on network devices. This is usually a software installed on a PC or a server to operate
one or more network management systems.

Key functions of SNMP manager include:

Queries agents
Gets responses from agents
Locates variables in agents
Accept no synchronous events from agents
Managed devices:
A managed device is the part of the network
that needs some type of monitoring and
management, for example, switches, routers,
workstations, servers, UPSs, printer, etc.
SNMP agents:
The agent is an application that is packaged
inside the network element. The agent
gathers the management information
database from the device locally and makes
it accessible to the SNMP manager, when its
asked for. These agents could be specific or
standard to a manufacturer.

Key functions of SNMP agent:

Collects management info related to its local setting
Stores and retrieve management info as defined in the Management Information Base
(MIB)
Acts as an alternative for some nonSNMP manageable network node
Indicates event occurrences to the manager
Management Information Base (MIB):

Each SNMP agent retains an information database explaining the managed device
configuration. The SNMP manager employs this database to ask the agent for precise info
and further interprets the info as required for the NMS (Network Management System).
This commonly allocated database between the Manager and Agent is named
Management Information Base or MIB.
Usually, these MIBs contain regular set of numerical and manage values characterized for
hardware nodes on a network. Also, SNMP allows the expansion of these regular values
with values specific to a particular agent via the utilization of private MIBs.

In brief, MIB files are the set of parameters that an SNMP Manager can request the agent.
Agent assembles these data locally and stores them as described in the Management
Information Base. Therefore, the SNMP manager must be attentive of these standard &
private queries for every kind of agents.

The term network management and network monitoring are both often utilized in IT
(Information Technology) industry. So what is network monitoring? Well, network
monitoring refers to the practice of control function of a computer network employing
specialized management tools. Network monitoring programs are employed to make sure
accessibility and overall performance of hosts and network services. Typically, these
systems are used on large-scale corporate and university IT networks.

Corporate Headquarters
76 Northeastern Blvd., Suite 29
Nashua, NH 03062, USA
Tel. (603) 881-3500
Sales: sales@gambitcomm.com
Marketing:
marketing@gambitcomm.com
Follow Us: