I need to be able to run a script on a remote server and have it return information back to me via a network socket connection.

I manage cable modem networks for apartment complexes where the complex's network sits behind a NAT firewall router that is onsite. To monitor individual modems, I need to be able to query them with SNMP. Since I am on the outside of the NAT, this is virtually impossible. I have a provisioning server on the inside of the network that is on the modem's network. Right now I can monitor the modems by connecting to the box via ssh and running several scripts that perform the snmpget's and format the returned data. I need to extend this so that a script located at the main office (outside the network) can perform this task.

All the script will have to do is open the socket to the remote server, pass two parameters (data type and IP to query), and wait for the response. No private information is going to pass over this connection, but a secure connection would still be a plus.

Do I need to look at programming a socket based client-server program from scratch or can SSH be coaxed into this type of duty. Both servers are running linux, so I know I can use shared key authentication.

Welel, you could (as you say) use auth keys to connect to the apartment server.
Write a server eg using Perl to recv your request (on the apartment server), do the snmp query and rtn the results to you/local server.
Sounds like you don't need forking or threads, unless you want lots of real-time monitoring.
See http://perldoc.perl.org/
Also, for worked examples, start here and read down the page : http://perldoc.perl.org/perlipc.html...IO%3a%3aSocket
includes clients and servers using the IO::Socket module that handles all the fiddly bits for you

Edit: actually, that would be a plain text cxn, which for your purposes might be ok. If not, put the relevant cmds in a file on the apartment server and call it using http://search.cpan.org/~ivan/Net-SSH-0.09/SSH.pm
OR
http://search.cpan.org/~dbrobins/Net...et/SSH/Perl.pm

See also http://search.cpan.org/~bnegrao/Net-...SSH/Expect.pod which is prob what you want.
As always, TMTOWTDI