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In this article, we will discuss everything you should probably know about SNMP as a beginner.

SNMP is a standardized online grid protocol used to collect and organize unit information on a online grid.

It does this over UDP port 161.

And today, in the field of internet monitoring, SNMP is the most widely used internet protocol.

In this article, I will discuss SNMP in detail.

So, lets get started.

SNMP: What & Why

SNMP stands for Simple connection Management Protocol.

It is used to manage and monitor all the devices connected over a data pipe.

Imagine if an organization has thousands of devices connected to a web link.

This is where SNMP helps.

It can monitor all those devices and check their status automatically without any person involved.

SNMP is vital for managing networks.

Without SNMP, it is challenging for connection management tools to identify devices and monitor theirperformance.

It would also be challenging to keep track of changes to the networks where there are multiple vendors.

SNMP version 1 was designed in the 80s, and it has weak security.

Unauthorized devices can even pretend to be legitimate managers.

Unfortunately, SNMP version 1 is still widely used in many networked devices that have not been updated.

This reduces the risk of unauthorized rig authentication.

It also provides for theprivacyof the data being transferred.

I highly recommend using SNMP version 3 wherever possible, especially when using SNMP over a public internet.

SNMP Runtime Components

SNMP Commands

Below are some popular SNMP commands you must know.

What is the SNMP Port?

SNMP manager communicates with SNMP agent by using SNMP ports.

How does SNMP Work?

SNMP has a simple architecture based on a client-server model.

The servers are called managers.

They collect and process information about devices on a online grid.

The clients are called agents.

Agents are a unit or unit component connected to a web link you want to collect information from.

MIBs are used to define a group of data points that can be collected from specific agents.

These groups of data points are called object identifiers or OIDs.

MIB is a logical grouping of OIDs.

Lets take an example, suppose you want to monitor a very critical link for your organization.

To achieve this, you could have an SNMP manager running somewhere.

It could be a router or a switch, or a firewall.

Many vendors like SolarWinds have monitoring tools configured, which will send emails in case of any event.

If your business-critical link goes down, you will receive an email.

In this way, you dont have to ask a person to monitor a particular link constantly.

This is how SNMP helps in terms of managing the basic things about the web link.

Limitations of SNMP Management

SNMP offers a lot of functionalities related to monitoring the web link.

There are still a few limitations and shortcomings to it.

So go ahead and set up an SNMP for your internet.