Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.10.15
What are the main differences between NETCONF and SNMP?
NETCONF separates configuration data from operational data and addresses resources by readable paths; SNMP does neither and uses numeric OIDs. NETCONF uses YANG and XML over SSH/TCP; SNMP uses MIBs and BER encoding over UDP.
The two most important differences:
- Configuration vs operational data. SNMP cannot tell the two apart. NETCONF can, so you can ask for "the configured state" separately from "the current counters".
- Paths vs OIDs. NETCONF names resources with paths such as
interfaces/interface/eth0. SNMP uses object identifiers such as1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.8, which mean nothing without a MIB to look them up.
| Feature | SNMP | NETCONF |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | OIDs | Paths |
| Data models | Defined in MIBs | YANG core models |
| Data modelling language | SMI (extended ASN.1) | YANG |
| Management operations | SNMP (get, set, trap) | NETCONF (get-config, edit-config, …) |
| Encoding | BER (type-length-value) | XML (JSON via RESTCONF) |
| Transport | UDP | SSH/TCP |
In practice SNMP is still widely used for monitoring, but it was never good at configuration. That gap is what NETCONF fills.
Go deeper:
Simple Network Management Protocol — Wikipedia — MIBs, versions and why SNMP stayed a monitoring protocol.- Object identifier — Wikipedia — how numeric OIDs name things.