Run Trace:
or paste your own traceroute

Run from:
Java required to run traceroute from Your PC
 
 
Click on a marker on the map, and then click on an IP address to get more info about it.
 
 
 

Abstract:

Mapulator's tracerouter extends the classical traceroute utilities by providing an approximate visual representation of the route an IP packet travels through the world.

Usage:

Above the map you will find a form to launch the route trace.
There are two ways to use this form:

  • Run trace:

    This is the default way. Simply fill the "Target Host" field with the name or IP address of the host you want to trace a route for and pick from where you want to run the trace, either from our server or from your PC, and hit the "Trace!".
    If you selected to run the trace from your PC (the default) a small Java Applet will be downloaded to your PC, and will run the traceroute command to then pass them back to the server for being parsed. (Note that this requires a Java enabled browser, and that you grant permissions to the Java applet to run a command on your computer by answering yes when the Java security alert popup asks for it.)
    If you choosed to trace from our server, the route to the host will start where our server is located (Dallas, Texas).
    There are a few parameters you can tweak:
    "Max Hops": This is the maximum number of hops that the traceroute command will try to perform before giving up. Sometimes, due to badly configured gateways, the traceroute command won't be able to determine the IP of the hop, and it will keep trying for some time, if the trace you requested is taking too much time, try to lower this number (the default is 30)
    "Timeout hop": This is the maximum amount of time (in seconds) each hop test can take. Each hop is tested 3 times, so if you have a route that has "Max Hops" = 30, and use a "Timeout Hop" of 5 seconds, the maximum time that trace could take is 30 x 3 x 5 = 450s. If the trace you requested is taking too much time, try lowering this value (the default is 5, and the minimum is 2)

  • User provided trace:

    To use the results from a trace you've already runned from your own PC (or maybe from other on-line tracerouter), click on the "or paste your own traceroute" link below the run trace form's title. The run trace form will be replaced by another form where you can paste the results, choose the Operative System wher they come from and have the results parsed and mapped.
    Mapulator's traceroute utility can parse both, "tracert" (Windows) and "traceroute" (U*ix/Linux and -hopefuly- MacOS X) results, simply open a console and use your traceroute program, then copy the ouput of the command and paste it in the textarea the form, finally select your OS and hit submit.
    To return to the run trace form, click on the "or run a trace" link below the form's title.

Map details

After either tracing the route on the server or parsing the user provided trace, Mapulator's tracerouter performs a "translation" from IP addresses to geographical latitude/longitude coordinates [1].
Using those coordinates the tracerouter adds markers on a Google Map indicating where each hop of the traceroute took place. Hops that take place in the same city are grouped under a single marker.
The route begins on the green marker with a triangle inside, it then goes to "A", and it follows the letters sequence and it ends on a red marker with a square in it.

Other utils

  • Whois:

    By clicking on a marker on the map, a baloon will appear over it containing information about the location and the list of hops that took place there. Clicking one of the hops will trigger a whois query for that IP, whose results will be displayed in the "Whois" tab located to right of the map.

  • Hops detail:

    Afer the map finish it's load process, the "Hops detail" tab will become active and it will contain a sortable grid containing all the hops that took place in the route to the target host.
    You can click on an IP address to run a Whois query for it, or you can click on one of the small red balloons to open the corresponding marker on the map.

  • Raw traceroute:

    Here you can see the traceroute data as it was received by the parser.
Note that the route does never begins in your own PC, but instead it starts in your ISP's gateway, and due to this the starting point city may differ from yours. Actually, the IP to geographical coordinates translation it's not as accurate as one may wish, since it's based on data provided by organizations whose bussines and servers locations may differ (i.e.: Organization X, owner of one of the gateways through which you packet has traveled, have their servers in NY and their offices in RI, and when they filled the domain registration form, they used their office address, and so the location in the map will be RI, but your IP packet really went through NY...)
 
 
 
 
 

Ping a host:


 
 
Click on an IP address in the Ping Results tab to get more info about it.
 
 
 

Abstract:

Mapulator's tracerouter extends the classical traceroute utilities by providing an approximate visual representation of the route an IP packet travels through the world.

Usage:

Above the map you will find a form to launch the route trace.
There are two ways to use this form:

  • Run trace:

    This is the default way. Simply fill the "Target Host" field with the name or IP address of the host you want to trace a route for and pick from where you want to run the trace, either from our server or from your PC, and hit the "Trace!".
    If you selected to run the trace from your PC (the default) a small Java Applet will be downloaded to your PC, and will run the traceroute command to then pass them back to the server for being parsed. (Note that this requires a Java enabled browser, and that you grant permissions to the Java applet to run a command on your computer by answering yes when the Java security alert popup asks for it.)
    If you choosed to trace from our server, the route to the host will start where our server is located (Dallas, Texas).
    There are a few parameters you can tweak:
    "Max Hops": This is the maximum number of hops that the traceroute command will try to perform before giving up. Sometimes, due to badly configured gateways, the traceroute command won't be able to determine the IP of the hop, and it will keep trying for some time, if the trace you requested is taking too much time, try to lower this number (the default is 30)
    "Timeout hop": This is the maximum amount of time (in seconds) each hop test can take. Each hop is tested 3 times, so if you have a route that has "Max Hops" = 30, and use a "Timeout Hop" of 5 seconds, the maximum time that trace could take is 30 x 3 x 5 = 450s. If the trace you requested is taking too much time, try lowering this value (the default is 5, and the minimum is 2)

  • User provided trace:

    To use the results from a trace you've already runned from your own PC (or maybe from other on-line tracerouter), click on the "or paste your own traceroute" link below the run trace form's title. The run trace form will be replaced by another form where you can paste the results, choose the Operative System wher they come from and have the results parsed and mapped.
    Mapulator's traceroute utility can parse both, "tracert" (Windows) and "traceroute" (U*ix/Linux and -hopefuly- MacOS X) results, simply open a console and use your traceroute program, then copy the ouput of the command and paste it in the textarea the form, finally select your OS and hit submit.
    To return to the run trace form, click on the "or run a trace" link below the form's title.

Map details

After either tracing the route on the server or parsing the user provided trace, Mapulator's tracerouter performs a "translation" from IP addresses to geographical latitude/longitude coordinates [1].
Using those coordinates the tracerouter adds markers on a Google Map indicating where each hop of the traceroute took place. Hops that take place in the same city are grouped under a single marker.
The route begins on the green marker with a triangle inside, it then goes to "A", and it follows the letters sequence and it ends on a red marker with a square in it.

Other utils

  • Whois:

    By clicking on a marker on the map, a baloon will appear over it containing information about the location and the list of hops that took place there. Clicking one of the hops will trigger a whois query for that IP, whose results will be displayed in the "Whois" tab located to right of the map.

  • Hops detail:

    Afer the map finish it's load process, the "Hops detail" tab will become active and it will contain a sortable grid containing all the hops that took place in the route to the target host.
    You can click on an IP address to run a Whois query for it, or you can click on one of the small red balloons to open the corresponding marker on the map.

  • Raw traceroute:

    Here you can see the traceroute data as it was received by the parser.
Note that the route does never begins in your own PC, but instead it starts in your ISP's gateway, and due to this the starting point city may differ from yours. Actually, the IP to geographical coordinates translation it's not as accurate as one may wish, since it's based on data provided by organizations whose bussines and servers locations may differ (i.e.: Organization X, owner of one of the gateways through which you packet has traveled, have their servers in NY and their offices in RI, and when they filled the domain registration form, they used their office address, and so the location in the map will be RI, but your IP packet really went through NY...)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer: Given the nature of the internet and the involvement of third-party services, Mapulator cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.