SNMP Analogy

What is SNMP, why was it created and how do I relate it to the physical world?

Simple Network Management protocol. A network of devices connected can communicate with each other. Each device has an attribute, like the name, its capabilities, its location, address book of the users in the machine ect. Inorder to manage this settings or to change them we need a protocol. SNMP was invented to do this. It has only 5 method to do all the operations( Get, Get-Next, Get-Response, Set, trap) and so the name simple. SNMP stores all the data in a MIB structure(Management Information Base). Each data is stored in a tree like structure and is assigned a number. You can reach any item by following the numbers. Like the root is . and then an address would look like .1.3.2.1.1.6.1347
SNMP has 4 layers.
The bottom layer is the 10 base T which is like the roads in a city.
The next layer is the IP layer which like the address of the houses in the city connected by the roads.
The next layer is UDP which is like a car carrying some passengers(messages) in it.
The top layer is the application (SNMPWALK) which is like the human who initiate the service.