SNMP, Wins, Bootp, DNS and DHCP

Abstract

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a well-supported standard which can be used to monitor and control devices. It typically runs of hubs, switches and bridges. Many SNMP devices provides both general network management and device management through a serial cable, modem, or over the network from a remote computer. It involves a primary management station communicating with different management processes. Figure F3.1 shows an outline of an SNMP-based system. A SNMP agent runs SNMP management software. An SNMP server sends commands to the agent which responses back with the results. In this figure the server asks the agent for its routing information and the agent responds with its routing table. These responses can either be polled (the server sends a request for information) or interrupt-driven (where the agent sends its information at given events). A polled system tends to increase network traffic as the agent may not have any updated information (and the server must re-poll for the information).