SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is the most widely-used network management protocol on TCP/IP-based networks.
SNMPv3 is designed mainly to overcome the security shortcomings of SNMP v1/v2. USM (User based Security Model) and VACM (View based Access Control Model) are the main features added as part of the SNMPv3 specification. USM provides both encryption and authentication of the SNMP PDUs (protocol data units), while VACM specifies a mechanism for defining access policies for different users with different MIB trees.
Also, SNMPv3 specifies a generic management framework, which is expandable for adding new Management Engines, Security Models, Access Control Models and so on. With SNMPv3, the SNMP communication is completely safe and secure.SNMPv3 is a multilingual agent supporting all three versions of SNMP (SNMPv1, SNMPv2c and SNMPv3) while conforming to the latest specifications. It is available as a portable source code product, which can be easily integrated to any platform (any OS and any Processor).
MIBintegration is made simple with the aid of a tool called Middle Level Code Generator (MIDGEN), which is available along with SNMP and generates the interface stubs required for every object in the MIB for the SET, GET and GETNEXT operations.These stubs can be implemented by the respective modules supporting the MIB.
SNMP is provided as source code available for licensing to OEMs and VARs who wish to incorporate the multi-lingual SNMP functionality into their products.