The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) provides a standard protocol that can be used on any platform. Vendors have already implemented SNMP support in their products, which resolves the issues of interoperability. Modems, routers, gateways, and host computers from different vendors can all share network management data by using SNMP.

SNMP uses simple code, allowing it to be incorporated into devices that do not typically have a lot of processing resources. Small routers and modems can be equipped with SNMP software without affecting the performance of the device. Yet SNMP is also flexible enough to allow changes to be made easily.

SNMP uses the services of UDP to share data between the various nodes on the network. Network administrators then use client software to access SNMP host software that is responsible for the gathering of network data. The server uses a store-and-forward methodology to maintain information about network entities.

The client application used by the network administrator may provide a simple interface with a graphical user interface (GUI), which is usually the case, or with something simpler and less user friendly. This, of course, is transparent to SNMP, which does not define the user interface.

It is important to understand that SNMP defines the means by which devices communicate network data to one another and not how the data is to be displayed to the user. This is the job of the client application, which collects the data from an SNMP server and displays...