Traceroute is a networking term that is used to describe the route that data takes when traveling between network points. In addition to displaying the name of each data “hop”, a traceroute will also list the IP address and amount of time to travel between each network location. Traceroute can be a very useful tool when you notice a website loading slowly (for example), as it will point out which hop has high latency.
When you are administering a dedicated server and/or VPS, the results of bi-directional traceroutes can show even more information.
To do a bi-directional traceroute you would first do a traceroute FROM your computer workstation TO your dedicated server/VPS:
From the c:/ prompt [command prompt] type “tracert” [without the quotes] and then press <ENTER> on your keyboard.
Copy and save these results, and then log into your dedicated server/VPS and do a traceroute FROM there TO your computer workstation.
Data can sometimes take different paths between the same two points over the internet when sending and receiving at different locations (or at different times of the day), depending on how your ISP and carrier networks have configured their routing tables. Doing a bi-directional traceroute will allow you to compare the route data takes when traveling between the two points, this will further assist you in providing additional information while accessing network latency.
