What Is Management Traffic and the Management Plane?

When you first get a new router or switch, you connect to it for management using a blue rollover cable that connects from your computer to the console port of that router or switch. This is your first exposure to the concept of management traffic. By default, when you connect to a console port, you are not prompted for a username or any kind of password. By requiring a username or password, you are taking the first steps toward improving what is called the management plane on this router or switch.

The management plane includes not only configuration of a system, but also who may access a system and what they are allowed to do while they are logged in to the system. The management plane also includes messages to or from a Cisco router or switch that is used to maintain or report on the current status of the device, such as a management protocol like Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).