Simple Network Management Protocol

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application layer protocol that facilitates the exchange of management information between network devices.

It provides a standardized framework for communication between SNMP managers and SNMP manageable devices.

Cisco networking devices are SNMP aware devices. They can be configured to use SNMP to inform an SNMP aware manager station about the existence of errors or inconsistencies.

Moreover, Cisco devices can be monitored and controlled by the SNMP manager which is able to gather real time operational information and instruct immediate action corrections to the device.

There are other methods and standards are also out there to manage devices like Syslog and RMOM.