Execute a plugin on a client and have the results returned as if the plugin where executed on the server.
Con: There are no pre-configured commands
Con: There is no secure way to specify arguments to the commands in a service defintion, so it is recommended that you define the commands on a per-client basis.
Pro: You can test the availability of network services to the client instead of the server
To debug a firewall
To check the status of hosts and services visible the (nagios) client, but not the server
nagios-statd uses the same port as nrpe you will want to use the equivalent local plugins on the server instead.