Traveling Through a Network

 

     Packets are small bits of information pertaining to domains, or IP addresses for the destination computer. These packets can be sent using the ping or tracert run commands and give detailed information such as if the computer’s network is online, the run time of a command, if a domain is available, or if a command timed out, usually meaning there is an issue, or the intended result is not attainable.

Ping Activity:

 During the ping activity I noticed that the Google.com domain was significantly faster than the .de or .jp domains that were inputted for Apple. At its slowest it took 21 milliseconds, and its fastest was 24 milliseconds. On average it took 22 milliseconds to ping Google.com. As for when I pinged apple. jp, it took much longer. The slowest speed was at 49 milliseconds, and the fastest was at 79 milliseconds, averaging at 57 milliseconds.

      The above image is an example of a ping command to Google.com.

Traceroute Activity:

     During the tracert activity, I noticed that the tracert for google.com timed out once on the 3rd hop and 6th hop, however the round-trip times stayed pretty consistent throughout all 14 hops or routers that it went through. The best connection was the tracert I did to apple.de. There were no failed hops meaning the signal was stronger, and there were fewer routers to go through during the specific tracert run; only 7 hops were displayed.

Geographical & Roundtrip Time:

        The relation between geographical location and roundtrip time is based on the physical distance, network path and how the transmission is routed whether through fiber optic cables or satellite links. Network infrastructure may also play a part in how both affect outputs of commands. 

This image depicts the various routes that ping & tracert commands initiate through servers across the globe

Ping Command Scenario's

    The ping & traceroute commands can be useful when troubleshooting because it can tell you if there is a connection or where the connection is getting lost. In my current job I have learned these commands, specifically using the ping command. I have used this command due to network connectivity issues to tell me if the computer is actually connected to the network or if another issue exists. By typing in ping, and the computer name, if the computer’s information is displayed, then it is connected to the network. If nothing is displayed or an error appears, then an issue with the network may be evident. I am new to the job, so I still have a lot of learning to do. One reason why a ping my time out could be network issues, or a router is too far away, and it takes too long for the command to reach its next destination.