Traceroute
traceroute
is another tool used to diagnose network problems.
It asks the question, “What is the route used to get there, and what are the road conditions
like along the way?”
In other words, traceroute
will give you information about the condition
of the connection between your computer and your FTP server. Think of it like
Google Maps or Mapquest
directions for data.
Using 'tracert' on Microsoft Windows

To use tracert
on Microsoft Windows, you'll need to open the command line (this used to
be called a DOS prompt):
- Open a command line by hold down the Window key on your keyboard and press R (WinKey + R).
- In the Run pop-up, enter the following and then click the OK button:
CMD
- In the command window, enter the following:
tracert your-account.exavault.com
After you've entered the command, you should see responses like those in the picture below. If you see asterisks, that means that a router or server along the way didn't respond.
Note that when you traceroute to your ExaVault server, our firewalls may not send responses back.
If the last lines in the tracert
list asterisks instead of a server and response times,
don't worry about it. Use ping to test connectivity to the server.
Using 'traceroute' in Mac OS X

Using traceroute in Mac OS X is really easy:
- Open a terminal (Applications > Utilities).
- Enter the following:
traceroute your-account.exavault.com
After you've entered the command, you should see responses like those on in the picture on the right. If you see asterisks, that means that a router or server along the way didn't respond.
Note that when you traceroute to your ExaVault server, our firewalls may not send responses back.
If the last lines in the traceroute
list asterisks instead of a server and response times,
don't worry about it. Use ping to test connectivity to the server.
Using 'traceroute' in *nix

Using traceroute in Linux, BSD, and other Unices is really easy:
- Open a terminal.
- Enter the following:
traceroute your-account.exavault.com
Note: on some systems, the command will be/usr/sbin/traceroute
After you've entered the command, you should see responses like those on in the picture on the right. If you see asterisks, that means that a router or server along the way didn't respond.
Note that when you traceroute to your ExaVault server, our firewalls may not send responses back.
If the last lines in the traceroute
list asterisks instead of a server and response times,
don't worry about it. Use ping to test connectivity to the server.
Why 'traceroute' is Useful
traceroute
works in a similar way to data transfers:
- It sends out packets of data to a destination.
- It asks each router /server it encounters along the way to respond three times with how long it took to process the sent packet.
Therefore, if you are experiencing slow transfer speeds, a traceroute
can help point out
where the bottleneck is.
Interpreting 'traceroute' Results
Here are the rules of thumb we use at ExaVault for traceroute
response times:
- Overland: 30 to 50 milliseconds for every 1000 miles (18 to 30 milliseconds for every 1000 KM) in distance.
- Overseas: Overseas data lines (e.g.: trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific, etc.) will impact response times ten-fold.