Method and apparatus for discovering network topology

A method of processing data from a plurality of probes which monitor traffic over a network, which includes a plurality of segments to which are connected a plurality of nodes, the method including the steps of polling the probes for monitoring data; receiving polled data from the plurality of probes; storing the polled data in a plurality of records, each of the records identifying at least a probe, a source node, a destination node, and a measure of traffic between the identified source node and destination node in that record; for a selected source-destination node pair, determining which of the plurality of probes produced a most complete report of traffic associated with that selected source-destination node pair; identifying those records among the plurality of records that designate both the probe which produced the most complete report of traffic and the selected source-destination node pair; and distinguishing within the plurality of records the identified records from the other records.