Traveling Through a Network

  Ping Activity

Traceroute Activity

Information travels through networks via packets. Packets are small pieces of information broken up and sent from your computer to its' destination. These packets are routed through routers and switches across the world pointing your information in the right direction. Arriving at the end destination, some packets may arrive at different times. This is why each packet has a header with a sequential order so the destination knows how to assemble the information. What if your information doesn't make it? We call this packet loss, and in fact it is common. Most internet protocols have a packet acknowledgement response, and if one isn't received by your computer, well then the information is resent that way the destination can reassemble the data correctly.

For my tests, I used three different search engines from across the globe. Google.com, the premier search engine most of the world, connected to its' nearest datacenter in Los Angeles, taking about 26ms average in response time (ping). Google's traceroute jumped through 8 different routers before arriving at the data center. Yandex.ru, Russia's primary search engine, had an average ping time of 214ms and a total of 11 router hops. Baidu.com, China's search engine, 199ms average ping with an astounding 19 router hops. This correlates that the greater distance away to the server, the longer the response time is going to be. As you pass through longer cables, routers, and infrastructure, your response time grows. You can troubleshoot connection problems using ping and traceroutes to see exactly where the information hold up might be. You may experience network congestion or server outages along the way of travel. You could also experience LAN (Local Access Network) firewall blocks that you can fix on the spot.

Time out or response errors can occur due to blocking of ping and traceroute commands, as a way of better securing their network from attacks or performance issues. Securing the network from attacks such as a DoS (Denial of Service) attacks, or sending large amounts of data repeatedly, could be the reason many servers ignore these types of data. Another reason is performance issues during times of network congestion or poor connections. The server may be prioritizing more important data versus a ping (ICMP), or may be experiencing a slow router.