In everyday life, we all often pronounce the word “highway”: automobile highway, cable route. The term is also used by designers when working with graphics, programmers when debugging applications, administrators of computer networks , etc. Such a wide distribution does not allow a clear definition - depending on the scope of application, there are some peculiarities that are specified separately. In general, the route is a direction, or, if you like, a conditional line.
In today's article, we will focus on network technologies: how to make a trace. But first, let's figure out to whom exactly this material may be useful. If everything is clear with server administrators, because this is their direct work, then how is a regular computer user connected with tracing? The situation is familiar to many: at one fine (or not so) moment, your favorite website on the global network stops opening. Communication problem? Or maybe some work is being done on the target server? Or for some reason, the local caching proxy incorrectly processes the request? It is clear that everyone wants to know the true cause of what is happening, and not to randomly check their guesses. To do this, two software tools are used to check the site ping and trace.
Any site is a collection of text pages (metalanguage) that are located on the server. This is a special computer (node), connected to the network around the clock. When a user enters the site name in the address bar of his browser, a request is sent to the host server and a response is returned (the site is displayed). However, it is extremely rare that a user's computer is directly connected by communication lines to such a server. Usually between them are other nodes - intermediate servers, partially "transparent" to the request. Tracing to the server allows you to get a kind of map - the route along which the signal passes. By carefully viewing it, you can with high probability indicate the reason for the inoperability of the resource.
Knowing how to make a trace, you can immediately “cut off” a communication cable malfunction or browser settings. It is also easy to identify problems with the provider itself. It’s quite simple to figure out how to make tracing, since the necessary program is part of all major operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS). In the first case, it is called "tracert", and in the second - "traceroute". This is the main difference, therefore, work with this tool in different systems is identical.
Imagine that the fb.ru website does not open in the Windows system, while all other Web resources are available. How to make a trace? Having pressed the combination "Win + R", we launch the command line. In the line we type "tracert fb.ru" and execute (Enter). A window appears with the current results. They are always different. It depends on the workload of the host servers and the protocol path chosen for the data packets.
With the specified syntax, the total number of intermediate servers, their IP addresses and ping value on each of them will be displayed. Too much ping means delays in opening the target site, but a message about exceeding the waiting interval indicates obvious problems on this route (route). By the way, their presence does not mean at all that the site does not open, since there can only be temporary problems on the site. In fact, the tracert tool provides indicative data, although its reliability is quite high. If a delay occurs at intermediate nodes, then you need to repeat the request after a while - the path will change and the site will open. But if there is a delay on the target server, then the reason for the inoperability is obvious - these are some problems on the side of the hosting provider.