Apparatus and method for discovering active devices using IP

Active devices can be discovered in ARP tables from routers on the network. Pings can then be sent to the active devices for verification, or pings can be sent to devices at other addresses on the network. Devices can also be discovered by sending a batch of pings (204) to addresses on the network and monitoring responses from those addresses over an interval. After the interval elapses, another batch of pings can be sent (214). The devices can be discovered by a host on the network or by a network manager. The network manager can add the discovered devices to a network topology database.