SNMP is an acronym for Simple Network Management Protocol. The purpose is to establish a standard mechanism to monitor and control network connected devices, producing a database of management information and establish uniform data types and methods to communicate the status of and manipulate the operation of network devices. There have been several versions; some have either been ignored, suffer from "flavoring" or non-adoption primarily due to security complexities. SNMPv3 was officially standardized in 2002, but SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c remain the most common today.
