Methods for address and name discovery for Ethernet entities

The present invention provides methods for address and name discovery for Ethernet entities. In one aspect, a method is provided for discovering an Ethernet address of a target device in a network having a plurality of devices. The method uses a device name of the target device. A broadcast Ethernet packet includes a source address field and a payload field, the source address field including an Ethernet address of an initiator and the payload field of the broadcast Ethernet packet includes the device name of the target device. The Ethernet packet is broadcast over the network to each device in the network including the target device. The broadcast Ethernet packet is ignored at the devices other than the target device. A response Ethernet packet is received from the target device. The response Ethernet packet includes a destination address field with the Ethernet address of the initiator. The response Ethernet packet also includes the Ethernet address of the target device. In another aspect, a method is provided for name discovery.