TCP/IP network management functions are most commonly associated with the key protocol responsible for implementing those functions: the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Many people have heard of SNMP, and it is common for SNMP to be considered “the” way that network management is performed in TCP/IP.

This is true to an extent, but is really an oversimplification. The actual SNMP protocol is only one part of a higher-level network management strategy called the Internet Standard Management Framework. In order to really understand how SNMP works, we need to first have some background on the way this network management is structured as a whole.

In this section I provide an introduction to TCP/IP network management by describing the concepts and components of the TCP/IP Internet Standard Management Framework. I begin with an overview and history of the framework, and discuss how it is related to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). I describe the TCP/IP network management model and the key components that comprise a network management system. I provide a summary of the architecture of the Internet Standard Management Framework. I then describe the three main versions of the Framework and SNMP, and how they are similar and different. I conclude with a discussion of the many standards used to describe this technology.