SNMP Information

The program can retrieve a bunch of useful data from switches, routers and other network devices that support SNMP.

Each computer that has an active SNMP agent can give data to the program over SNMP. In the Windows 2000/XP/2003/ Vista operating system, the SNMP agent is implemented as a service, SNMP Service.

It happens that in some network devices (such as routers, switches, network printers, etc.) although an SNMP agent is present, it is not running. Normally, to run it would be necessary to open the properties of the device via the Web interface, find a parameter like "SNMP Agent (Disable/Enable)" and set the switch to the Enable position, taking a note of the Community parameter.

Fig. 1: The System Information window: SNMP information

Community - is a kind of a password for accessing data in the device. This password is to be set in the field SNMP read community string (Fig. 1). To obtain data from the device, select the tab of your interest and then click on the Get information button.

All tabs, except for General, have the Save report button, which allows saving the retrieved data to a CSV file.

The Interfaces tab provides information on network interfaces available in the device with detailed information on each of them. Other than that, the tab displays network statistics on incoming and outgoing packets, which allows monitoring network traffic on remote devices.

The MAC-IP-Interface tab provides information on connections table (see the Switch connection table section).

The Connections tab provides information on current TCP and UDP connections of the host. Also provided is information on the state of the connection, remote/local port number, and remote/local IP address.

 

How to install the SNMP service on a Windows PC

Warning! Installing the SNMP service with its default settings can be potentially dangerous for your computer's security. Before continuing with the installation, please learn the SNMP security issues (how to change community strings, etc.).

To install the SNMP service, open Control panel, then launch Add or remove programs, then select Add/Remove Windows Components, tick off Management and Monitoring Tools and confirm your selection. The service will be installed and run.