SNMP is a UDP-based network protocol and is mostly used in network management systems to monitor network-attached devices. There is a set of standards for network management, including an application layer protocol, a database schema, and a set of data objects. These standards are the basic components of SNMP.

An SNMP-managed network consists of three key components: managed devices, agents, and network-management systems (NMSs). Managed devices collect and store management information and make this information available to NMSs using SNMP. Agent has local knowledge of management information and translates that information into a form compatible with SNMP. NMS executes applications that monitor and control managed devices. NMSs provide the bulk of the processing and memory resources required for network management.

SNMP basic commands:

• Read: It's used by an NMS to monitor managed devices.
• Write: It's used by an NMS to control managed devices.
• Trap: It's used by managed devices to asynchronously report events to the NMS.