A system and method to autonomously discover and track the topology of a network is disclosed. The system autonomously creates or updates a network map representative of an actual network based selected network data of at least some devices on the network. In accordance with a method aspect of the invention the system polls network elements for their cross-connect information and correlates such information to create network maps or trees. Additional aspects of the system include being able to autonomously trace a route or service within a network. In an addition aspect of the invention the system comprises a computer-readable medium having instructions for performing the various methods.
