  Ethernet networks have undergone impressive growth since the past few
decades. This growth can be appreciated in terms of the equipment, such as
switches and links, that have been added, as well as in the number of users
that it supports. In parallel to this expansion, over the past decade the
networking research community has shown a growing interest in discovering and
analyzing the Ethernet topology. Research in this area has concentrated on the
theoretical analysis of Ethernet topology as well as developing tools and
methods for mapping the network layout. These efforts have brought us to a
crucial juncture for Ethernet topology measurement infrastructures: while,
previously, these were both small (in terms of number of measurement points),
we are starting to see the deployment of large-scale distributed systems
composed of hundreds or thousands of monitors. As we look forward to this next
generation of systems, we take stock of what has been achieved so far. In this
survey, we discuss past and current mechanisms for discovering the Ethernet
topology from theoretical and practical prospective. In addition to discovery
techniques, we provide insights into some of the well known open issues related
to Ethernet topology discovery.
