untangling_the_web

DID: 4046925
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Traceroute
Traceroute is an Internet utility that shows in real time the complete logical
connection path between a local host and the remote host it is contacting, i.e., it is a
tool for mapping the path from one computer to another computer's IP address while
showing all the IP addresses of the routers between these two points as well as the
time between each step along the way.
"A traceroute utility maps the path that data packets take between two points
on the Internet, showing all of the intermediate nodes traversed, along with an
indication of the speed of travel. Traceroute was invented in 1988 by Van
Jacobson at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US Today a
traceroute utility often comes as part of the operating system. Windows, for
example, has a small utility called tracert, which is used by typing, at the MS­
DOS prompt, tracert.,,155
Traceroute, which shows all the intermediate routers that packets pass through to
get to their destination, was written as a network troubleshooting utility to reveal
problems with routers along a specific path. It is also very useful in showing how
systems on the Internet are connected to each other. While traceroute only shows
logical connections, it can nonetheless help you understand possible physical
connections because the Internet is not only highly redundant but also very
repetitive. In other words, Internet traffic will usually take the same routes over and
over again unless something, such as equipment overload or failure, interferes with
it.
Let's take a look at a simple traceroute run using a free visual traceroute tool
available at IP Address Guide: 156
155 Martin Dodge, "Mapping Where the Data Goes," Internet Society, March 2000,
(14 November 2006).
156 The Internetipaddress.com website is currently unavailable.
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