Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Application Layer protocol designed specifically for managing and monitoring network devices. SNMP is a popular protocol for network management. It is used for collecting information from and configuring network devices such as; servers, printers, hubs, Switches, and routers on an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

Several versions of SNMP are supported on SonicWall Switches. They are v1, v2c, and v3.

• SNMPv1, which is defined in RFC 1157 “A Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)”, is a standard that defines how communication occurs between SNMP-capable devices and specifies the SNMP message types. Version 1 is the simplest and most basic of versions. There may be times where it’s required to support older hardware.
• SNMPv2c, which is defined in RFC 1901 “Introduction to Community-Based SNMPv2,” RFC 1905, “Protocol Operations for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)”, and RFC 1906 “Transport Mappings for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)”. SNMPv2c updates protocol operations by introducing a Get Bulk request and authentication based on community names. Version 2c adds several enhancements to the protocol, such as support for “Informs”. Because of this, v2c has become the most widely used version. Unfortunately, a major weakness of v1 and v2c is security.
• SNMP v3 adds a security feature that overcomes the weaknesses in v1 and v2c. It is recommended to use v3- especially if you plan to transmit sensitive information across unsecured links. However, the extra security feature makes configuration a little more complex. An agent translates the local management information from the managed Switch into a form that is compatible with SNMP.