Post #4 – Traveling Through a Network

"In Post #4, you will describe how packets travel through the network, based on your experience
using the ping and traceroute commands. Compare the ping and traceroute results from the
different websites and explain how the paths to the different destinations differ. Make a
conclusion about the relationship between the roundtrip time and geographical location.
Explain how the ping and traceroute commands can be used to troubleshoot Internet connection
problems. Give at least two possible reasons why a ping request or traceroute command might
time out or return with an error message."

This week we learned about the line of communication a computer has with the internet, and what Ping and Tracer routes are. Per our text, Dodge & Zook state that “A computer communicates via the Internet by sending a packet, containing information like an address for a destination computer, the data size, and the data itself (email message, web page, piece of video, etc.).” When you send out packets of information, it is called “Ping”. “PING stands for “Packet Internet Groper.” Pinging an IP address or website means sending small packets of information out to a specific IP address and requesting a response from the recipient, such as typing in google or Facebook into your address bar to take you to either of those sites. Additionally, you could also use your bookmarks to take you to those web pages, both will have the same result, we would send the request out by pinging that web address and waiting for the response. If the address is bad, or there is an error, we would not be taken to the webpage for example. “Running a traceroute, also called tracert on some operating systems, means sending small packets of information out to a specific IP address and documenting the path that the packets take as they travel there.” I use this when I use my VPN to establish a remote connection to my work computer, as I am requesting to go to a specific IP address and computer to gain access to the things I need for work.

References:

Dodge, M., & Zook, M. (2009). Internet-based measurement. The International Encyclopedia of Human Geography: Elsevier. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4492/0ad7004b93cd485731f56de3abe3e19200a7.pdf

INT100_GuideToPing%20and%20Traceroutes.pdf