A mechanism is provided for generating visual representations of an
address space. More particularly, the dotted quad notation of an Internet
Protocol address space is illustrated. A discovery process is performed
to identify addresses of entities in the network, as well as other
information, such as device type, operating system, geographic location,
and the like. Each unique address is represented by a graphical icon
representing a value of the fourth quad of the address. The graphical
icons may be three-dimensional and may be indicative of the type of
device. These icons are formed into strings of icons, each string of
icons representing a value of the third quad of the addresses. The
strings of icons are formed into spokes on wheels, each wheel
representing a value of the second quad of the addresses. The wheels are
stacked into cylinders, each cylinder representing a value of the first
quad of the addresses. The cylinders are formed into spokes of another
wheel or disk that represents the entire address space. The address space
disk may be presented in association with a geographic region. Address
space disks may be captured and stored periodically. These address space
disks then may be stacked to form cylinders, each cylinder representing a
predetermined number of seconds. Alternatively, the time-stamped address
space disks may be rotated to form spheres, each sphere representing, for
example, sixty seconds.