Services and protocol elements that permit the exchange of management information between stations attached to ISO/IEC standard local and metropolitan area networks are defined. The standard includes the specification of managed objects that permit the operation of the protocol elements to be remotely managed. In addition, an architecture for station discovery and the dynamic control of event forwarding is defined. Services and protocols that support station discovery and the dynamic control of event forwarding are defined.

This International Standard defines an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) management-compatible architecture, and service and protocol elements for use in a LAN/MAN environment for the purpose of performing remote management of LAN-based or MAN-based devices. The protocol described is a connectionless-mode management protocol that makes use of Logical Link Control (LLC) Type 1 procedures as a means of conveying management information between stations in a LAN/MAN environment, thus providing for interworking of ISO/IEC standard LAN/MAN devices for management purposes. The management information is conveyed using the protocol data unit (PDU) formats defined in ISO/IEC 9596-1 : 1991.1.