The SNMP protocol is used by network management systems to communicate with network elements.For this to work, the network element must be equipped with an SNMP agent.
Most professional-grade network hardware comes with an SNMP agent built in. These agents must be enabled and configured to communicate with the network management system.Operating systems, such as Unix and Windows, can also be configured with SNMP agents.
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a UDP-based network protocol. It is used mostly in network management systems to monitor network-attached devices for conditions that warrant administrative attention.