SNMP vs. ICMP for Status and Response time

Hi, I am trying to cleanup a SolarWinds system I inherited and I have a question about the Status & Response Time when I list resources on a node. What reasons might I have to choose the SNMP over ICMP? If ICMP is faster I was wondering if additional information might be given if I chose SNMP instead? Could anyone clarify please?

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FormerMember

Hi,

I was wondering about this setting myself. I always leave it as ICMP. I am guessing one reason Solarwinds give you the option to switch to SNMP only is to do with security.

In a tightly controlled environment you may not be able to use ICMP to reach out to devices. In that situation you make sure that a Solarwinds SNMP poll is exactly that (and not a hybrid SNMP/ICMP combination).

If you are taking these measures you would probably want to ensure you are polling with SNMP v3 as well.

rfroembgen

Hi,

here is an excellent post where your question should be answered:Difference between ICMP & SNMP response time

Best Regards

Rene

muckman

Great article. Use ICMP unless its specifically blocked. The only advantage SNMP offers is it acts like a service monitor, which may sound great but you'll get more false positives across your environment.