Abstract: A method and system for identifying the topology of a network is disclosed. One or more monitoring probes capture data packets from network interfaces. Network elements, such as physical ports, physical links, network nodes, logical links, and SCTP associations, are identified from the captured data packets. A data model is created for storing the network elements, including the physical ports, physical links, network nodes, logical links, and SCTP associations. The data model also stores associations between the network elements. The monitoring probes pass network element data to a monitoring server. A topology agent in each monitoring probe identifies duplicates of previously detected network elements within the probe. A topology agent in the monitoring system server identifies duplicates of previously detected network elements within the monitoring system server.