To achieve coexistence at the protocol-level, a protocol entity acting in a manager role might support both SNMPv1 and SNMPv2. When a management application needs to contact a protocol entity acting in an agent role, the entity acting in a manager role consults a local database to select the correct management protocol to use.
In order to provide transparency to management applications, the entity acting in a manager role must map operations as if it were acting as a proxy agent.