Aggregation of physical layer information related to a network

A communication network system (100, 300, 300 ', 300' ') comprising: a plurality of connection panels (102, 302, 302 ', 302' '), each of the connection panels comprising a plurality of ports (104, 304) to which connectors (214, 314, 314') can be connected connected to cables (212, 312, 312 '), the cables further comprising storage devices (216, 392, 392'), each of the patch panels being configured to read media information stored in the devices (216, 392, 392 ') for storage of the cables (212, 312, 312') connected to the ports of that respective connection panel; and an aggregation point (120, 353, 380) communicatively coupled to the plurality of patch panels, the aggregation point being configured to automatically discover the patch panels and cause each of the discovered patch panels to send to the point of aggregation at least part of the media information read from cable storage devices that are connected to ports on that patch panel, the aggregation point being configured to store at least part of the media information sent by the patch panels to the aggregation point.