Digital Router Question:

SNMP is the "Simple Network Management Protocol". Most systems and devices on a network are able to tell when they are having issues and present them to the user through either prompts or displays directly on the device. For administrators unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell when there is a problem unless the user calls them over. On devices that have SNMP enabled however, this information can be broadcast and picked up by programs that know what to look for. In this way, reports can be run based on the current status of the network, find out what patches are current not installed, if a printer is jammed, etc. In large networks this is a requirement, but in any size network it can serve as a resource to see how the network is fairing and give a baseline of what its current health is.