Dialup SNMP

Dial-up SNMP is a protocol that allows network managers to manage networks remotely. It is part of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol more commonly known as TCP/IP. Simple Network Management Protocol, or SNMP, is incorporated into the embedded software of devices such as remote access servers that manage remote access to computer networks. Because of its simplicity and flexibility, SNMP is widely used for a large number of network management tasks.

Remote Network Management

SNMP can be used to monitor SNMP and non-SNMP devices, display SNMP alarms in any web browser, control remote equipment and send alarms to support staff. A SNMP management system has three components, managed devices, agents and network management systems. Managed devices can be routers, access servers, switches, hubs, computer hosts, or printers.

Managed Devices

Local device management information is maintained by a software module that is embedded within the managed device and which is known as an agent. The network management system processes the applications that monitor and control the managed devices. A managed device can have a number of parameters or characteristics that can be managed, each of which is known as a managed object. All of the managed objects are organized in the MIB, or management information base.

The Internet Engineering Task Force, or IETF, has documented standards for SNMP including authentication and encryption. An open source application suite, Net-SNMP, is available for both Unix and Windows operating systems. It has applications that can implement all three versions of SNMP using IPv4 and IPv6 Internet Protocols and includes a library for developing new SNMP applications in C or Perl.