How an Agent Works

Many devices—such as mainframes, PCs, printers, routers, hubs, and interfaces—typically have built‑in SNMP agents that monitor and gather information about the status of these resources.

An agent responds to requests issued by management applications or managers regarding specific data that is associated with a resource. These requests can involve, for example, information about file systems, databases, and memory usage. An agent also sends traps to managers to notify them of noteworthy conditions that are related to a resource. The managers interpret the raw data and perform actions based on how each manager is configured.