The SNMP architecture
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) architecture includes four layers.
As the following figure illustrates, the SNMP architecture includes
the following layers:
- SNMP Network Managers
- Master agents
- Subagents
- Managed components
Figure 1. SNMP architecture 
A network can have multiple SNMP Network Managers. Each workstation can have one master agent. The SNMP Network Managers and master agents use SNMP protocols to communicate with each other. Each managed component has a corresponding subagent and MIBs. SNMP does not specify the protocol for communications between master agents and subagents.