Efficient Route Tracing from a Single Source

Traceroute is a networking tool that allows one to discover the path that packets take from a source machine, through the network, to a destination machine. It is widely used as an engineering tool, and also as a scientific tool, such as for discovery of the network topology at the IP level. In prior work, authors on this technical report have shown how to improve the efficiency of route tracing from multiple cooperating monitors. However, it is not unusual for a route tracing monitor to operate in isolation. Somewhat different strategies are required for this case, and this report is the first systematic study of those requirements. Standard traceroute is inefficient when used repeatedly towards multiple destinations, as it repeatedly probes the same interfaces close to the source. Others have recognized this inefficiency and have proposed tracing backwards from the destinations and stopping probing upon encounter with a previously-seen interface. One of this technical report's ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: CORR
• Authors: Benoit Donnet, Philippe Raoult, Timur Friedman
• Keywords: CORR 2006, Destination Machines, Education, Technical Report, Tool