### About SNMP and the PortServer Agent

This section introduces SNMP and network management in TCP/IP networks, and it describes the agent for the Digi One RealPort and PortServer TS. It discusses the following:

- Network management components
- The SNMP agent
- SNMP traps
- The MIB support provided by the agent for the Digi device
- The agent's supported traps

#### Network Management Components

The TCP/IP network management architecture contains the following components:

- Managed nodes such as host systems, routers, terminal and communications servers (such as Digi One RealPort and PortServer TS) and other network devices
- One or more network managers (also called network management stations), which are the points from which the network is managed
- Agents that reside on managed nodes and retrieve management information and communicate this information to network managers
- The network management protocol, SNMP, which governs the exchange of information between the nodes and stations
- Management information, which is the database of information about managed objects. This database is called the management information base (MIB).

#### SNMP Management Agent

Each managed node contains at least one agent--a component that responds to requests from the network manager--that retrieves network management information from its node and notifies the manager when significant events occur.

#### SNMP Traps

A mechanism defined by SNMP is called a trap, which is a report or "alarm" from a managed node to an SNMP manager that a significant event has occurred.