A method of merging a list of newly found network devices resulting from a network discovery and a list of previously known network devices to determine if any of the newly-found devices matches previously known devices, the method being for use by a discovery system to evaluate network device attributes in a specific order, the method comprising: arranging the newly found network devices and previously known network devices in a hierarchical structure by assembling network discovery data in said hierarchical structure so as to facilitate specific order of network device attribute evaluation, whereby the discovered information gathered into the hierarchical structure comprises a top abstract layer, an abstract device layer being a representation of the device, an abstract agent layer representing an agent on the device and an element layer; determining one or more device matches between each network device in the list of newly found network devices and one or more network devices in the list of previously known network devices by evaluating a combination of attributes associated with said each network device; for each of the one or more device matches, determining one or more network element matches between the newly found network device and the corresponding previously known network device, wherein determining one or more network element matches further includes comparing physical addresses of corresponding interface elements for devices from the list of newly found network devices and the list of previously known network devices so as to evaluate a device with respect to the various network links to the device, said network links being links with respect to elements within the device; and, updating the list of previously found network devices corresponding to each of the one or more device matches with the corresponding at least one newly found network device. arranging the newly found network devices and previously known network devices in a hierarchical structure by assembling network discovery data in said hierarchical structure so as to facilitate specific order of network device attribute evaluation, whereby the discovered information gathered into the hierarchical structure comprises a top abstract layer, an abstract device layer being a representation of the device, an abstract agent layer representing an agent on the device and an element layer; determining one or more device matches between each network device in the list of newly found network devices and one or more network devices in the list of previously known network devices by evaluating a combination of attributes associated with said each network device; for each of the one or more device matches, determining one or more network element matches between the newly found network device and the corresponding previously known network device, wherein determining one or more network element matches further includes comparing physical addresses of corresponding interface elements for devices from the list of newly found network devices and the list of previously known network devices so as to evaluate a device with respect to the various network links to the device, said network links being links with respect to elements within the device; and, updating the list of previously found network devices corresponding to each of the one or more device matches with the corresponding at least one newly found network device.