Internet Management (Comer 26)
Besides protocols carrying actual payload, systems are needed for locating and fixing problems, controlling routing and finding machines that violate protocol standards
Activities such as those mentioned above are referred to as internet management
In traditional WANs, management was implemented using low-level (data link layer) control messages
In a TCP/IP network there is no uniform data link layer => network management protocols have to be implemented at a higher level
The IP routers of the Internet correspond to the switches of a traditional WAN, so they have to be controlled and managed
Because an internet consists of different networks, network management protocols are implemented at the application layer on top of generic TCP/IP protocols