IT is full of jargon, and it doesn’t take much to get them confused. However, one of the most prevalent abbreviations in the data center world is SNMP – so if you’re working in or around networking, servers or storage, you’re likely to hear it. Here, the team at Procurri deep dive into the term so you can develop a working understanding of what it is, how it works, and how it may impact your IT infrastructure.
What is SNMP and what does it stand for?
SNMP is an abbreviation for Simple Network Management Protocol. This is the standard protocol used to manage and monitor all devices connected to a single network.
SNMP enables network devices to share their operational data with the network administrators. Data may include memory consumption, network traffic, device uptime, CPU usage and the status of hardware functionality. The Protocol interprets this data as needed and presents it to the network administrator in a consistent format – so no matter which device they’re monitoring, they can see the information simply and easily.
SNMP was originally introduced into networking in the 1980s, to allow for easy translation of data sent by network devices to keep it consistent for easy overview. While it has been updated somewhat since then; and a variety of newer monitoring tools for networking devices have been brought to market; it remains widely used today and is still supported by almost every network-capable device. SNMP also remains vendor-neutral, whereas some of the more modern protocol solutions are defined by OEM.
In basic terms, SNMP can be considered a bridge of communication between devices connected to a network and network monitoring systems. It provides the network administrator with data on functionality and capability, allowing for the detection of any issues, the logging of trends and to better manage the health of the network infrastructure as a whole from a central location.
SNMP may be used across data centers, enterprise networks and ISPs.
The Importance of Centralized SNMP
Considering it has been some 40 years since its launch and SNMP remains a mainstream solution, it’s importance cannot be understated – how many technology protocols stay in usage this long, after all?! Indeed perhaps with the development of modern networks to include hundreds or thousands of devices all interconnected, its role is more important than ever. Providing a centralized location from which to manage, monitor and troubleshoot so many devices at once simplifies management vastly and allows for the rapid detection of any issues – sometimes even before they occur.
Some of the biggest business benefits of SNMP are as follows:
- Visibility of status and function – providing real-time insight into key performance indicators, allowing for the identification of any issues. In many cases, any problems can be rectified before any impact is felt by the end user/s
- Proactive approach to network management – allowing for network administrators to take a proactive rather than reactive approach to managing the health of their network. Alerts and notifications can be set up on custom thresholds or triggers as appropriate (for example, if a device’s temperature increases and is likely to overheat, or if a link is nearing its full capacity)
- Impressive compatibility – as an industry standard protocol, SNMP works on a vendor-neutral approached. This frees up network administrators to build their environment as mixed as they’d like while still avoiding complexity in monitoring and management.
Overall, SNMP can greatly reduce downtime, improve reliability of a network and help network administrators and IT teams make informed decisions about capacity planning and infrastructure growth.
The Key Components of SNMP and How They Work
To understand how SNMP works, it’s best to start with the individual components that work together within it to collect, transmit, and organize the data for network management purposes. The key components are:
- Managed devices – these are the individual devices connected to the network that are being monitored for management purposes. This may include routers, switches, firewalls, servers, wireless access points, printers, and IoT devices
- An SNMP agent – each managed device connected to the network has an SNMP agent installed. This agent gathers the relevant local data from the device and makes it available to external monitoring systems by responding to queries from SNMP managers and alerting them when something unexpected or unusual occurs
- An SNMP manager – a part of the NMS (Network Management System) rather than an actual person, an SNMP manager is the central system that communicates with each SNMP agent. The SNMP manager requests data from the SNMP agents, processes their responses, stores data and metrics and can generate alerts when network administrators need to be informed of something
- MIB (Management Information Base) – a database of all of the information submitted to and from network devices. Each specific piece of data from a network device is referenced using an OID (Object Identifier), and ensures all data is presented in a consistent style and format.
The way these components work together forms the foundation of SNMP operations. The interaction they foster is simple and structured in a way to allow the constant flow of data from the network devices to the overall monitoring system.
Initially, the managed device runs an SNMP agent. This agent continuously tracks the state and functionality of the device, with data processed such as CPU usage, memory levels, interface traffic, and hardware conditions. This data is organized in line with the format stipulated by the overall MIB.
While this monitoring happens constantly, the SNMP manager will periodically and regularly send requests for specific data points from its SNMP agents; each identified by OIDs. The agent will retrieve this data and respond by sending across the requested information.
In the case of an alert being triggered of unusual or unexpected activity, the components work together proactively rather than reactively just to data requests. The SNMP agent will send a message known as a ‘trap’ to the SNMP manager. This in turn notifies the system administrators so that they’re able to log on and take action right away.
Meanwhile, the SNMP manager will continue to work in the background of reparable or remedial work being completed by storing the data, analyzing it for and visualizing trends and feeding this back to the administrators as part of a feedback loop for continuous improvement.
The Different Versions of SNMP
As SNMP has been in use for so long, it has evolved over time to address concerns around security, functionality and performance. There are now three versions primarily in use worldwide; each varying slightly differently.
SNMPv1
The original version of SNMP, this version was the first introduced and provided the basic framework for how the protocol would work. SNMPv1 is the simplest possible version of the protocol, but is the least secure due to its age. Reliant on plaintext community strings for authentication and verification, SNMPv1 is vulnerable to unauthorized access and so should not be used for sensitive purposes.
SNMPv2c
An improved version of SNMPv1, v2c added support for more efficient error handling and support for bulk data transfers. This improved the protocol sufficiently for larger networks. However, while this may benefit its performance compared to v1, the security protocol remains on community strings and so offers no further security protection – making this somewhat dated and defunct for many organizations.
SNMPv3
The introduction of SNMPv3 saw a protocol version finally include more appropriate security provision for modern networks. Supporting encryption and introducing user-based authentication, v3 offered considerably better security protection levels and made the protocol much less vulnerable to tampering or interception. Furthermore, v3 included access controls and message integrity measures.
SNMPv3 is the most recommended version of the protocol for modern network environments, but in practice, many businesses operate a mix of versions dependent on the age of the systems utilized within their network configurations.
SNMP: Speak to the Experts
SNMP has been around for a long time, but its simplicity has allowed it to remain current as one of the most widely used and trusted protocols for network monitoring and management; in an industry where longevity is rarely found.
Indeed, network monitoring remains as important today, if not more, than it did during SNMP’s initial introduction. Without such a standardized system for network monitoring and management, network administrators experienced complicated and complex methods to identify issues and collect performance data – and essentially no way at all to approach any potential issues on a proactive basis. Its ease of use and scalability allows it to adapt to all types of networks from small businesses to full enterprise architecture; which allows for it to remain so appropriate today.
If you need advice or information on your network’s architecture, maintenance or monitoring, get in touch with the Procurri team today. Our specialist engineers hold experience in a variety of complex configurations and work on an entirely vendor-neutral basis, so no matter how mixed your network, we can help.
