SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol is the Internet standard protocol for network management software. It monitors devices on the network, and gathers device performance data for management information (data) bases ("MIB"). Since it was developed in 1988, the Simple Network Management Protocol has become the de facto standard for the Internet work management. Because it is a simple solution, requiring little code to implement, vendors can easily build SNMP agents to their products. SNMP is extensible, allowing vendors to easily add network management functions to their existing products. SNMP also separates the management architecture from the architecture of the hardware devices, which broadens the base of multivendor support SNMP is based on the manager/agent model. SNMP is referred to as "simple" because the agent requires minimal software. Most of the processing power and the data storage resides on the management system, while a complementary subset of those functions resides in the managed system. Management information bases (MIBs) are a collection of definitions, which define the properties of the managed object within the device to be managed. Every managed device keeps a database of values for each of the definitions written in the MIB. It is not the actual database itself. SNMP offers basic security levels - Authentication and Authorization.