SNMP Fundamentals

Figure 1 shows a typical Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) management system. The entire system must have a network management station (workstation) that functions as a network management center for the network and runs management processes.

Each managed object must have an agent process. Management processes and agent processes use User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to transmit SNMP messages for communication.

Figure 1 Typical SNMP configuration

A workstation running SNMP cannot manage NEs (managed objects) running a network management protocol, not SNMP. In this situation, the workstation must use proxy agents for management. A proxy agent provides functions, such as protocol transition and filtering operations. Figure 2 shows how a proxy agent works.

Figure 2 Schematic diagram for how a proxy agent works