What port does Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) use for regular queries?

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) primarily uses port 161 for regular queries, and it operates over UDP (User Datagram Protocol). This choice is correct because SNMP is designed to be lightweight and efficient for managing network devices. UDP, being a connectionless protocol, allows for faster transmission of messages without the overhead of establishing a connection, which is particularly useful for the frequent and rapid queries that SNMP performs to gather information from networked devices.

SNMP agents listen for requests on port 161, allowing network management systems to send queries regarding device status, statistics, and performance metrics. The use of UDP also aligns with the protocol's architecture, as SNMP does not require the reliability features that TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) provides, such as guaranteed delivery or ordering of packets, which are less critical for the types of data being managed.

The other port choices relate to SNMP but have different purposes; port 162 is used for receiving traps (asynchronous notifications) sent from SNMP agents to the management system, and both of these ports are associated with UDP rather than TCP for SNMP traffic. Thus, the correct port for regular SNMP queries is indeed port 161, utilizing UDP.