untangling_the_web

DID: 4046925
UNCLASSIFIEDHFOR OFFICIAL l:ISE ONLY
Communications, MCI Worldcom, MFS, PacBell, Owest Communications, Sprint,
Time Warner (AOL), Verizon (GTE) and XO Cornrnunlcattons."!"
At this point note the rather dramatic increase in the RTT from 83.93 ms to 233.02
ms. The packet leaves the US and travels to Sydney, Australia, (syd-core02)
between hops 8 and 9. In this example, wil-core02 is the gateway router to the trans­
Pacific link of the Reach network. Reach is an Asia-Pacific focused backbone
provider operating a "high-speed cable network in the Asia-Pacific region. It has
significant interests in all major submarine cables consortia in the Asia-Pacific
region." The other indication that the packet traveled via submarine cable instead of
satellite is the fact that the RTT remains relatively low. A good rule of thumb (though
not by any means a guarantee) is that satellite traffic usually has a >500 ms RTT.
The packet stays on the Reach network all the way to hop 10 in Sydney where it is
handed off to Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company. Here we see
another indication of the network infrastructure: the packet is now in Telstra's
10GigabitEthernet6-0. In February 2003, Telstra activated the first 10 Gigabit
Ethernet link on its Internet Direct backbone, the network that delivers broadband
Internet services across Australia. The final geographical hops in this traceroute
occur between hops 11 and 12 where the packet travels from Sydney to Brisbane. In
fact, APNIC (the Asia Pacific Network Information Center) is located in Milton,
Brisbane, Australia, the same location as the server nori. apnic. net. However, be
cautious about geolocating a final destination server with the actual location of the
organization you're researching because that organization's site may well be hosted
in a separate location.
Traceroute Anomalies and Failures
Watch out for traceroute anomalies. For example, look at line 6 in this traceroute at
NYC-gw12.USA.net.DTAG.DE. Despite the fact the router has a German top-level
domain (DE), this router is in the US (NYC). Note also the RTT increase from 37 ms
t0141ms.
157 "Our Building," One Wilshire, 2002, (14
November 2006).
488 UNCLASSIFIEDliFOR OFFICIAL l:ISE ONLY