TraceRoute Tool
Trace network paths and gain insight into data packets
Trace network paths and gain insight into data packets
Keep end users happy with IT performance by making sure data packets are delivered in a reasonable amount of time. For instance, end users are more likely to stay on a webpage if it has a fast load time.
When data packets are experiencing delays and causing performance issues, a TraceRoute tool, like the one you get as a utility in SolarWinds® Engineer’s Toolset™ (ETS), can help you identify the root cause of the problem. ETS is built to help you trace the route of a network path, so you can easily diagnose response-time problems and isolate segment failures.
Display the domain names and response time for each hop
Display the domain names and response time for each hop
When you’re using TraceRoute to trace the path your data packets take, it’s important you get as much information as possible about each hop on the path. As soon as the TraceRoute tool helps you pinpoint the location of the issues, you have the information you need to start troubleshooting the problem at its source.
SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolset is designed to display the most relevant information, including domain names of the hops in the communication path, device names and IP addresses, and a detailed response-time analysis for each hop.
Get real-time performance insight across your network
Get real-time performance insight across your network
If you’re using your TraceRoute tool, you likely already know you have an issue in your network. Time is of the essence if you want to remedy the problem before it has a significant impact on the end-user experience.
SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolset is built to give you real-time insights to help keep you in the loop during the TraceRoute process. ETS’s utility leverages ICMP to diagnose performance issues along a network path in real time, so you can start getting to the bottom of the problematic hop right away, whether the issue is misconfiguration or malfunction.
Diagnose response-time problems with ease
Diagnose response-time problems with ease
Gain access to 60+ tools to help you manage your network
Gain access to 60+ tools to help you manage your network
Get More on TraceRoute Tool
What is TraceRoute?
A TraceRoute tool is used to trace the path taken by a data packet from its source to its destination, a specific IP server. When data travels between two points, it needs to “hop” through a variety of devices, including routers and switches. The TraceRoute tool uses Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo packets with variable Time to Live (TTL) values to map each of those hops. It provides details on the Round-Trip Time (RTT) of the data and, when possible, offers the name of the device and IP address of places where there are delays.
The purpose of TraceRoute is to let you know there’s a problem within your system and help you pinpoint where it exists, so you can better target your problem resolution efforts. You might use TraceRoute to better understand performance when website pages are taking a long time to load. By running a TraceRoute test, you can more easily identify where major delays exist within the data path. You can then perform TraceRoute analysis and take use the information to identify the root causes of the delay in the page or pages loading.
How does a TraceRoute tool work?
A TraceRoute tool maps the path a data packet takes to travel from its origin to its destination, tracking the time it takes to do so and pinpointing hiccups in the smooth transfer of data from one location to another.
Understanding how a TraceRoute tool works begins with understanding a few key network mechanisms essential to the success of a TraceRoute analyzer. The first is a network mechanism that’s called “Time to Live” (TTL). TTL puts a limit on how long data can “live” in an IP network. Each packet of data sent is assigned a TTL value. As data packet travels, it reaches hops. At each hop, the TTL value is decreased by one. Once the TTL value reaches zero, the data packet is dropped. Without an embedded TTL value, the packets would keep traveling through the network endlessly if they encountered an error and didn’t reach their destination.
The second key mechanism to understand is “Round-Trip Time” (RTT). When you use TraceRoute, each hop on the path to the destination device drops a packet, then sends back an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) error message. This lets TraceRoute measure the amount of time between when the data was sent out and when the ICMP message comes back for each hop, giving you the RTT value for each hop on the path.
It’s useful to think of a concrete example to better understand this concept. Imagine you’re running a TraceRoute and you specify a max of 30 hops. TraceRoute will then send data packets with a TTL of 1 to the destination server. When the packet passes through its first network device, the TTL will be reduced from 1 to zero and you’ll receive a message saying the packet was dropped. That will give you the RTT of hop number 1.
Next, the data packets will be sent to the destination server, but this time with a TTL of 2. When the packets pass through the first device again, the TTL will go down to 1. When the packets then pass through the second hop, the TTL will be reduced to zero. Again, the message saying the packet was dropped is sent, leaving you with the RTT for hop number 2.
This process is repeated over and over, moving to the next hop each time, either until the data packets reach their destination or until the maximum number of hops (in this case 30 hops) is reached. By the end of this TraceRoute test, you’ll know how many hops it takes to reach the destination device, what the RTT is for each hop, and the IP address and device name for each of those hops.
What is the purpose of TraceRoute analysis?
The purpose of TraceRoute analysis is simple: to help identify where within your network pathway there are delays that may be interfering with performance and data packet delivery. It can help you find routing loops that might be present in your network pathway, as well as any points of failure. With a TraceRoute analyzer, you get a useful diagnostic tool to help you visualize your network and any problems within it.
Through TraceRoute analysis, you can map out the path data packets take before reaching their destination. You can also test how far packets can travel before they encounter a problem. Using the TraceRoute test process, you can more easily determine the approximate location of a problem and which devices are at fault, whether due to misconfiguration or malfunction to address the root causes of problems and improve performance for end users.
What other tools are included in ETS?
SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolset (ETS) comes with more than just a TraceRoute tool. It includes more than 60 tools specifically designed to help manage networks and stay on top of issues that arise. These tools cover everything from monitoring, to network discovery, to analysis, to problem-solving. With ETS, you can:
- Automatically discover network devices and map network topology.
- Track device availability, memory utilization, CPU load, interface statistics, and performance and latency of network paths.
- Quickly troubleshoot your network with enhanced ping capabilities and packet route tracing.
Some of the other tools you get with Engineer’s Toolset are:
- Switch Port Mapper
- Wake-on-LAN Tool
- Interface Monitor
- MAC Address Finder
- DNS Analyzer
- Syslog Server
- Network Traffic Generator
- Memory Monitor
- WMI Browser
- Port Scanner
- IP Network Browser
- Ping Sweep
- Network Sonar
- Subnet List
- Network Discovery Tool
- SNMP Sweep
What is TraceRoute?
A TraceRoute tool is used to trace the path taken by a data packet from its source to its destination, a specific IP server. When data travels between two points, it needs to “hop” through a variety of devices, including routers and switches. The TraceRoute tool uses Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo packets with variable Time to Live (TTL) values to map each of those hops. It provides details on the Round-Trip Time (RTT) of the data and, when possible, offers the name of the device and IP address of places where there are delays.
The purpose of TraceRoute is to let you know there’s a problem within your system and help you pinpoint where it exists, so you can better target your problem resolution efforts. You might use TraceRoute to better understand performance when website pages are taking a long time to load. By running a TraceRoute test, you can more easily identify where major delays exist within the data path. You can then perform TraceRoute analysis and take use the information to identify the root causes of the delay in the page or pages loading.
Improve performance with a web-based TraceRoute tool
Engineer's Toolset
Trace the route of a data packet’s network path.
Analyze the latency and overall performance of each hop.
Get actionable insights to help with troubleshooting.
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