Network Path Discovery Tools

 Tracert - Traceroute

Both of these are command-line tools. Both use ICMP for the discovery.

Tracert

Windows uses tracert for path discovery. When executed it will show the path the data takes from the source to the destination. Tracert will list each router (hop) the data passes through. It will also show the round-trip time (RTT). This can help determine if there is congestion at each hop.

Tracert switches:

• -d suppresses name resolution, making the results much quicker
• -h specifies the maximum number of hops, default is 30.
• -4 forces IPv4 only
• -6 forces IPv6 only

There are other switches for most of these command line tools, just type in the command, space, and enter /? to see all of the available switches.

Traceroute

Traceroute is supported by Linux & Cisco IOS.

The switches and commands are different than tracert but produce the same results.

Ping Commands

 Ping and Switches to Know

Ping is used to see if a system is up and responding. In a Windows environment make sure that network discovery is turned on or you will not receive a response.

To enable network discovery:

Click the start button in Windows

Select on the left side the Setting icon

Select Network & Internet

Select Ethernet

On the right-hand side select Network and Sharing Center

Then select Private and enable Network Discovery

Switches commonly used with ping:

• -t unlimited pings until stopped
• -a to resolve a hostname to an IP address
• -n for the number of echo requests to send
• -4 force using IPv4
• -6 force using IPv6