Question

Use an online Looking Glass (e.g., choose one from ) to trace packets along a path through the Internet. Repeat for several different destinations, ensuring at least one has a destination overseas (hint: try universities in Europe, Asia or North America). Record the results, including a summary of the approximate delay between the source and destination. For one of the international destinations, summarise the key information you learn from tracing a path (e.g., physical locations of routers? ISPs or network owners? Delay?). Discuss what factors may impact or contribute to the delay in the Internet (compared to the delay across a single network or link).

Answer 1

Using a Looking Glass tool to trace packets demonstrates that the path, number of hops, network congestion, and ISPs involved contribute to varying latencies in data transmission, especially in international communications.

Step-by-step explanation:

When you use an online Looking Glass tool to trace packets along a path through the Internet, you will find that the trace route provides valuable insights into the journey packets take from the source to a destination server. This can involve several ISPs and numerous routers. When tracing to an international destination, one might observe that packets often pass through major Internet exchange points and may see the names of different network providers involved in the transport of packets. The recorded delays, also known as latency, can vary greatly depending on physical distance, the number of hops (routers) involved, network congestion, and the quality of the paths taken.

For instance, if you trace a route from a location in the United States to a university in Asia, the physical locations of routers would typically include cities with major network hubs. You would also notice the ISP or network owners that manage each segment of the network your packets traverse. Delays on international routes are generally higher than domestic ones, due to the greater number of hops and longer physical distance the packets have to travel, which may include undersea cables or satellite links.

Factors impacting the delay can include the actual physical distance data must travel, the number of intermediate routers and the efficiency of their processing and queues, the bandwidth and congestion level of each link, and the quality of service policies in place which might prioritize certain types of traffic over others, a concept central to discussions of net neutrality.