What is an SNMP trap?

An SNMP trap is a notification sent from a network device, such as a router or switch, to a management system indicating that a specific event or condition has occurred. Unlike SNMP polling, where the management system requests information, traps are unsolicited messages triggered by events like device failures, threshold breaches, or performance issues. This allows for real-time monitoring and quicker response times to potential problems in the network. Traps are part of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), which is widely used for managing networked devices.