According to one embodiment, a method may include instantiating a first maintenance end point on a first port of a first network element. The first maintenance end point may determine whether a heartbeat message has been received from a second maintenance end point instantiated on a second port of a second network element. In response to determining that the heartbeat message has been received, the maintenance end point may analyze the heartbeat message to determine an identifier for the second network element and an identifier for the second port. Based on the determination of the identifier of the second network element and the identifier of the second port, the network element may store information to an adjacency list, the information indicating at least one of an adjacency of the first port to the second port and an adjacency of the first network element to the second network element.