Catalyst switches offer advanced customization and manageability. The switches can be configured using a serial console, telnet or Secure Shell. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) allows monitoring of many states, and measurement of traffic flows. Many devices can also run an HTTP server.
Configuration of the switch is done in plain text and is thus easy to audit. No special tools are required to generate a useful configuration. For sites with more than a few devices, it is useful to set up a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server for storing the configuration files and any IOS images for updating. Complex configurations are best created using a text editor (using a site standard template), putting the file on the TFTP server and copying it to the Cisco device. However, it can be noted that a TFTP server can present its own security problems.
