Question
(a) Visit the site www.traceroute.org and perform traceroutes from two different cities in France to the same destination host in the United States. How many links are the same in the two traceroutes? Is the transatlantic link the same?
(b) Repeat but this time choose one city in France and another city in Germany.
(c) Pick a city in the United States, and perform traceroutes to two hosts, each in a different city in China. How many links are common in the two traceroutes? Do the two traceroutes diverge before reaching China?
Answer
(a) To perform traceroutes from two different cities in France to the same destination host in the United States, you can follow these steps:
- Choose two cities in France from which you want to perform traceroutes.
- Identify a destination host in the United States to which you want to trace the route.
- Open a command prompt or terminal on your computer.
- Use the
traceroutecommand followed by the destination host's IP address or domain name to initiate the traceroute. For example:traceroute destination_host. - Repeat the process for the second city in France.
By comparing the two traceroutes, you can analyze the similarities and differences between the routes taken. The number of links that are the same in the two traceroutes will vary depending on the specific network topology and routing configurations.
Regarding the transatlantic link, it is highly unlikely that the exact same physical link will be traversed in both traceroutes. Internet routing is dynamic, and routes can change based on various factors such as network congestion, routing policies, and interconnections between different Internet service providers (ISPs).
(b) The process for performing traceroutes from a city in France to a city in Germany is similar to the previous steps mentioned. You can choose one city in France and another city in Germany, select a destination host, and initiate traceroutes from each city to the same destination host. Then compare the traceroutes to observe the common links and any differences.
(c) To perform traceroutes from a city in the United States to two hosts in different cities in China, follow these steps:
- Choose a city in the United States from which you want to initiate the traceroutes.
- Identify two destination hosts in different cities in China.
- Open a command prompt or terminal on your computer.
- Use the
traceroutecommand followed by the IP address or domain name of the first destination host to start the traceroute. For example:traceroute first_destination_host. - Repeat the process for the second destination host.
By comparing the traceroutes, you can determine the number of common links between the two routes. The divergence of the traceroutes before reaching China will depend on the network infrastructure and routing policies employed by the ISPs involved in the transit. It's possible that the traceroutes may diverge at some point due to different network paths or policies implemented by the ISPs along the way.