Internet tools – traceroute May 19, 2008

Task:  Traceroute to curtin.edu.au. Cut and past the entire list of ‘hops from there to Curtin. How many ‘hops’ are there? What is the average time in milliseconds from the tools site to the Curtin server? 

Log entry: Using the online traceroute tool at http://hexillion.com  [70.84.211.98], I did a traceroute to curtin.edu.au [134.7.179.53]…

hop

rtt

rtt

rtt

ip address

domain name

1

0

1

1

70.84.211.97

61.d3.5446.static.theplanet.com

2

0

0

0

70.84.160.162

vl2.dsr02.dllstx5.theplanet.com

3

0

0

0

70.85.127.109

po52.dsr02.dllstx3.theplanet.com

4

0

0

0

70.87.253.21

et3-1.ibr03.dllstx3.theplanet.com

5

0

0

0

157.238.225.5

xe-4-4.r03.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

6

0

0

0

129.250.2.153

ae-2.r20.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

7

*

*

*

8

8

7

7

129.250.3.25

ae-0.r21.hstntx01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

9

49

49

49

129.250.3.121

as-1.r21.lsanca03.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

10

49

49

49

129.250.5.90

xe-0-1-0.r03.lsanca03.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

11

50

50

50

198.172.90.102

p4-1-1-0.r03.lsanca03.us.ce.gin.ntt.net

12

195

195

200

202.158.194.157

so-3-3-1.bb1.b.syd.aarnet.net.au

13

207

211

211

202.158.194.33

so-2-0-0.bb1.a.mel.aarnet.net.au

14

220

220

220

202.158.194.17

so-2-0-0.bb1.a.adl.aarnet.net.au

15

244

249

247

202.158.194.5

so-0-1-0.bb1.a.per.aarnet.net.au

16

244

249

247

202.158.198.178

gigabitethernet0.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au

17

244

248

244

202.158.198.186

gw1.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au

18

244

244

247

134.7.16.46

19

244

247

247

134.7.248.65

te1-1.b309-sr.net.curtin.edu.au

20

247

250

249

134.7.179.53

There were 20 hops in total, and the average time from the tools site to the Curtin site was 248 milliseconds.

I also did a visual traceroute to curtin.edu.au using WhatIsMyIPAddress.com.

Visual Traceroute Results

Tracing route to 134.7.179.53

Hop	Time	Host	IP	Location
1	10.44	wsip-70-183-59-1.oc.oc.cox.net	70.183.59.1	Irvine, CA, United States
2	74.479	rsmtdsrc02-gew03020996.rd.oc.cox.net	68.4.15.5	Irvine, CA, United States
3	10.537	wsip-64-58-132-114.oc.oc.cox.net	64.58.132.114	Irvine, CA, United States
4	11.537	wsip-64-58-132-101.oc.oc.cox.net	64.58.132.101	Irvine, CA, United States
5	9.052	ip68-4-13-241.oc.oc.cox.net	68.4.13.241	Irvine, CA, United States
6	9.28	rsmtdsrj01-ge600.0.rd.oc.cox.net	68.4.14.253	Irvine, CA, United States
7	23.279	paltbbrj01-so000.0.r2.pt.cox.net	68.1.0.199	Mission Viejo, CA, United States
8	26.532	so-1-0-0.0-sjbr2.global-gateway.net.nz	203.96.120.217	, , New Zealand
9	36.437	so6-0-1.labr5.global-gateway.net.nz	202.50.232.90	Auckland, 00, New Zealand
10	185.703	so1-1-2.sybr5.global-gateway.net.nz	202.50.232.74	Auckland, 00, New Zealand
11	184.158	so-4-1-0.cre1.hay.connect.com.au	202.10.4.93	, , Australia
12	195.851	as0.cre1.syd.connect.com.au	202.10.0.58	, , Australia
13	236.522	as3.cre1.per.connect.com.au	202.10.0.53	, , Australia
14	240.693	so-0-0-0.dst1.per.connect.com.au	202.10.0.160	, , Australia
15	228.39	gigabitethernet0-1.cor1.per.connect.com.au	203.63.171.19	Perth, 08, Australia
16	235.183	DAMC140915-1.gw.connect.com.au	210.9.196.33	Perth, 08, Australia
17	233.831	gigabitethernet0-1.cor1.per.connect.com.au	203.63.171.19	Perth, 08, Australia
18	229.086	203.161.115.6.static.amnet.net.au	203.161.115.6	Perth, 08, Australia
19	237.52	ge1-3.cr01.wa.amnet.net.au	203.161.64.14	Perth, 08, Australia
20	228.882	134.7.16.46	134.7.16.46	, , Australia
21	N/A	134.7.179.53	134.7.179.53	Perth, , Australia

This exercise was useful to show the various steps that packets of information need to make to get to the target URL. In this case, it shows that about half of the steps were in Australia.  This has implications for broader internet policy and use - for example, if users are sourcing their Internet content from international sources, the time taken will be higher, albeit marginally in some cases. 

Task:  Download an internet tools client. Ping the webct site and compare the time with the time taken to ping from the net tools site.

Log entry:  I downloaded the A-ToolBar and used this to ping the webct site. This pings took  68-70 milliseconds, compared to 216-218 milliseconds from the Network tools site.  The latter probably took longer because the webct server is located in Australia – so it didn’t need to be routed through as many sites. 

Task:  Traceroute from your computer to curtin.edu.au. Compare the number of hops with the earlier traceroute.

Log entry:  I used the A-toolbar to Traceroute to curtin.edu.au. It took 14 hops, and 78 ms.  Compared to the earlier traceroutes, it took less hops and was quicker than from the net tools site.  Again, this is probably because both the webct and my server are located in Australia – so it didn’t need to be routed through as many sites/servers. One observation is that if I click on ‘resolve IP address’, it seems to take a lot longer, although the outcome recorded in the traceroute is similar.  Seeing the word-based IP address is useful, as it help give a better idea of the path the trace takes.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) April 29, 2008

Task:  Download and install a FTP client.  FTP to recall.curtin.edu.au and uses an anonymous loging.  Look at the directory structure and find the file called README. 

Outcome:  “according to the readme file, ‘CAPITALIZATION MATTERS’”.

Log entry:  I downloaded a trial version of WS-FTP Professional for this exercise. The experience was a more direct or tangible way of interacting with another computer.  AsI’m familiar with computer file structures, it was very similar to opening up a directory on my own computer, even though it’s on the other side of the country.  This makes it seem like less of a remote interaction.

Because I directly initiated the request, it also makes me feel more ‘in charge’ or autonomous than I would, for example, in finding a web page using a search engine.    

Telnet – ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this …’ April 29, 2008

Task:  Telnet over to towel.blinkenlights.nl for a bit of fun.  Record your reflections of your experiences. What do you think about Telnet now? 

                                                /\
                                              |oo )      We’re doomed!
                                             _\=/_
                           ___         #   /  _  \   #
                          /() \        \\//|/.\|\\//
                       _|_____|_    \/  \_/  \/
                      | | === | |        |\ /|
                      |_|  O  |_|         \_ _/
                       ||    O  ||           | | |
                       ||__*__||           | | |
                      |~ \___/ ~|        []|[]
                      /=\ /=\ /=\     | | |
              ____ _[_]_[_]_[_]___ /_]_[_\_________________________

Log entry:   This was my second experience using Telnet, and it was worth the visit. (I particularly enjoyed the scene in the bar – it was very true to the Star Wars movie.) If that was done today, it’d have more impressive graphics and other features, but I think its simplicity is also part of the appeal.

The basic use of symbols to create a picture also reminded me of older computer games such as Space Invaders, which have a simple design but are still entertaining. It demonstrates how people can be creative in developing applications using the tools that have, even if they seem basic by today’s standards. 

Telnet – to Deakin library April 27, 2008

Task:  Download and install a telnet client for your computer. Telnet to the deakin library database computer and search for author name Bennahum. Email the results to your Curtin email address and record the outcome.  

Log entry: 

 You searched for the AUTHOR: bennahum
 2 AUTHORS found, with 2 entries; AUTHORS 1-2 are:                           
 
     1   Bennahum David A 1936  ……………………………  1 entry
     2   Bennahum Ninotchka  ………………………………    1 entry
 
Reflections on the experience:

This exercise brought back memories of doing assignments my first time at university on an old Wang computer – it was about as user-friendly as telneting the Deakin library. This shows that my past experiences provide context for my interactions using the Internet. On the other hand, I didn’t find that using telnet to remotely access the Deakin computer lessened the recognition of difference between humans and computers – in fact, the ‘difficult’ interface is likely to have heightened this difference.