An SNMP simulator is a type of

computer simulation Computer simulation is the running of a mathematical model on a computer, the model being designed to represent the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be determin ...

, that simulates the

Simple Network Management Protocol Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behavior. Devices that typically su ...

(SNMP) agent. Contrary to

network simulation In computer network research, network simulation is a technique whereby a software program replicates the behavior of a real network. This is achieved by calculating the interactions between the different network entities such as routers, switc ...

, which models the behavior of a network within a computer, the SNMP simulator actually interfaces with outside systems, for example network management application software. An SNMP simulator fools the network management application software into believing it is talking via the SNMP protocol to one or more devices, just like a

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

allows a pilot to believe they are flying a plane.

Uses

SNMP Simulators are used for development, testing, and training of

network management system Network monitoring is the use of a system that constantly monitors a computer network for slow or failing components and that notifies the network administrator (via email, SMS or other alarms) in case of outages or other trouble. Network monitori ...

software. Before the advent of simulators, actual physical equipment was used. The scalability of simulators dramatically reduces the cost in this area. Features in this area vary widely, from the no-cost to commercial offerings. It is not uncommon for higher-end simulators to simulate thousandsMIMIC simulates network of 20000 devices
/ref> of devices on common PC hardware or virtual machines. Setting up any number of instances of any number of device type is standard functionality. The better simulators will allow creation of any type of dynamic scenario, both in terms of MIB object behavior as well as trap generation. Since current network management standards comprise a set of protocols, the better simulators integrate the current network management standards, such as

NetFlow NetFlow is a feature that was introduced on Cisco routers around 1996 that provides the ability to collect IP network traffic as it enters or exits an interface. By analyzing the data provided by NetFlow, a network administrator can determine thing ...

command-line interface A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via command (computing), commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user ...

s (CLI), etc. Typically, SNMP simulators are deployed in laboratories which contain both Network Management Application software and devices to exercise the software for the above purposes.

References

{{reflist Network management