SNMP Traps in Network Monitor
Network Monitor and SNMP Traps
SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. Simple Network Management Protocol is a set of standards for communication with devices connected to a TCP/IP network. It is often used to communicate with hubs and switches.
Since it was developed in 1988, the Simple Network Managment Protocol has become the de facto standard for network management. Because it is a simple solution, requiring little code to implement, vendors can easily build SNMP agents to their products. SNMP is extensible, allowing vendors to easily add network management functions to their existing products. SNMP also separates the managment architecture from the architecture of the hardware devices, which broadens the base of multivendor support. Perhaps most important, unlike other so-called standards, SNMP is not a mere paper specification, but an implementation that is widely available today.
There are three versions of SNMP: SNMP v1, SNMP v2 and SNMP v3. ActiveXperts Network Monitor is compliant with all three versions. To send an SNMP trap to an SNMP-v1-only device, you MUST explicitely indicate to send an SNMPv1 trap. To send an SNMP trap to an SNMP v2 or SNMP v3 device, simply use the default SNMP version.
ActiveXperts Network Monitor supports different data types, including:
- String types (also called "octet strings");
- Integer types (16bit, 32bit and unsigned integers);
- IP Address types;
- Timetick types;
- Counter types (32bit and 64bit counters);
- OID types (also called "Object ID's");
- Other, less frequently used datatypes.
ActiveXperts and Windows SNMP Services
The following SNMP Services are available in Windows. These services are not installed out-of-the-box, but can be installed optionally through the 'Add Features Wizard':
- SNMP Service
- SNMP Trap Service
IMPORTANT: ActiveXperts Network Monitor does NOT depend on the above two services. It is no problem to have the above services running, except if you want to receive SNMP Trap notifications through ActiveXperts. If the Windows SNMP Trap service is running, ActiveXperts cannot listen to the SNMP Trap port (by default, UDP/162), and as a result, SNMP traps cannot be received.
Testing and Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot SNMP, use the SNMP Diagnostic Utilities that come with ActiveXperts Network Monitor.