Which of the following is a network monitoring protocol?

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application-layer protocol specifically designed for managing and monitoring network devices. It is a core component of network management systems. SNMP operates using a manager-agent architecture, where an SNMP manager (a centralized system) queries SNMP agents running on network devices like FortiGate firewalls, routers, and switches. The agents provide access to a wide range of performance metrics, configuration data, and status information stored in a Management Information Base (MIB), enabling administrators to monitor network health and performance.

A. RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) is a proprietary Microsoft protocol used for providing a remote graphical user interface to another computer, not for network device monitoring.

B. Telnet is an insecure, text-based protocol for remote command-line access and is not designed for automated network monitoring.

D. SSH (Secure Shell) is a cryptographic protocol that provides secure remote command-line access and other network services, but it is not a monitoring protocol itself.

1. Fortinet FortiOS 7.4.0 Administration Guide: In the section "System > SNMP

" the documentation states

"The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) allows you to monitor the FortiGate's status. The FortiGate SNMP agent sends SNMP traps (alarms or event notices) to an SNMP manager." This directly identifies SNMP as the protocol for monitoring FortiGate devices. (Reference: FortiOS Administration Guide 7.4.0

Page 1015).

2. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RFC 3411: This standard

titled "An Architecture for Describing Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Management Frameworks

" defines the protocol's purpose. The abstract and introduction describe SNMP as the standard for "managing entities in an internet

" which includes the function of monitoring. (Reference: RFC 3411

Section 1: Introduction).

3. Kurose

J. F.

& Ross

K. W. (2017). Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach (7th ed.). Pearson. Chapter 9

"Network Management

" extensively covers SNMP

identifying it as the preeminent application-layer protocol for Internet network management. It details the components of the SNMP framework

including MIBs

agents

and the protocol itself

all of which are central to network monitoring tasks. (Reference: Chapter 9.1

"What is Network Management?").