SNMP and SNMPv2: the infrastructure for network management

The Simple Network Management Protocol is the most widely used protocol for the management of IP-based networks and internets. The original version, now known as SNMPv1, is widely deployed. SNMPv2 adds functionality to the original version but does not address its security limitations; this relatively recent standard has not achieved much acceptance. An effort is currently underway to develop SNMPv3, which will retain the functional enhancements of SNMPv2 and add powerful privacy and authentication features. This article provides a survey of the three versions of SNMP, including a discussion of the way in which management information is represented and the protocol functionality.