Module 1 - Internet Tools Task

As this tasks concept points out the keystone foundation to the internet is the system of identifying a location and routing data between two fixed end points. With out the ability to do this the internet as we now know it would simply not exist.

Previously I have used Traceroute and other internet tools when building websites and determining which hosting company to go with. I suppose this makes me relatively familiar with the tool and the information that it provides. Never less, I thought a little background research to broaden my understanding of the underlying concept would not hurt.

To complete this particular task I had to complete a Traceroute inquiry via either network-tools.com or centralops.net: I choose to do both to see what, if any, differences would present between the two tools. And besides, it's not like it takes hours to complete a Traceroute inquiry.

The Results
Results from Network-Tools took around 260ms with the last three hops timing out once the packets hit the Curtin network.

Results from Centralops came it at 253ms with the last three hops again timing out once they hit the Curtin network.

Neither of the actual results surprised me as both tools are located offshore. What did surprise me was that both times the last three hops timed out. I hav read that this could be due to packet loss or the network protecting itself as a Traceroute is similar to port sniffing.

Incidentally, the IP address for curtin.edu.au is 134.7.179.53

Ping
For those mildly interested, like nearly every other word within the world of IT, Ping is actually an acronym for Packet Internet Groper (sounds dodgy eh). Ping is used to see if an address on the internet is active an accepting data and it's latency, when pinging curtin.edu.au from the online tools the following was yielded.

The Results
Results from both online sources were approximately the same as the Traceroute results coming in at 260.2ms and 253ms respectivly. This was to be expected as data is still being sent via the same route as in the Traceroute. The major difference here is that a Ping is not recording all hops or resolving domain names. This would explain why Ping results will appear on the page quicker.

From My Local Machine
In further exploration for this task I have done as suggested and utilised the software WhatRoute, directly downloaded to my local machine. I also have used OS X's bundled application, Network Utility, to complete this final piece.

The Results
Results were as expected with response times nearly half that of the online tools, 104ms with traceroute (although both my attempts seem to have completely died when reaching the Curtin network) and 110ms when pinging.

The key takeout to me from this is that location is everything when it comes to speed on the internet. Obviously the closer you are to your destination the quicker it will be to get there. Though the one caveat that I throw in is; you have no actual control on just how your data will be routed. Take my last image for example. My ISP Exetel routes all data through Sydney before shooting me off to Perth and Curtin's network. Is this something that has an effect?

I'm not entirely sure but logic says that going to Perth via Sydney isn't the shortest route and it allows more opportunity for error.