In addition to establishing and terminating sessions, it activates and deactivates resources under its control, including application programs, Network Control Programs (and the devices they control), and devices to which SNA is directly attached. SNA also maintains information on the network configuration, active sessions, and network conditions.
To help users control a network, SNA receives commands from an operator to perform network services. Through operator messages, the operator is kept informed about those services and about any network conditions.