Use Pathping

Robert J. Shimonski

Pathping is a Windows-based command-line tool used to provide information about data path to destination address, network latency and network loss at intermediate transfer steps between source and destination. In this article we will help you understand latency (latency), transmission (hop) and some similar concepts. At the same time, we will also look at how to use Pathping to troubleshoot or fix real-world problems. This enhances the usefulness of the tool, and shows you how to use it when working on your own product network.

Introduce

Pathping is a TCP / IP-based utility (command-line tool), which provides useful information about network latency and network loss at direct transmission steps between source and destination addresses. It does this by sending requests to re-signal via the ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) and analyzing the results. ICMP is an extension of Internet Protocol, which is part of the TCP / IP protocol suite defined by the RFC 792 standard. ICMP supports packets containing error, control and communication messages. Pathping sends multiple requests to signal to each router between the current address trying to ping and the destination address. If your target machine is in the middle of a WAN link, you will probably have to use some router classes, most commonly two. That means you can check the pathping path in the network two steps or between the steps of transferring two routers. The diagram below illustrates a typical network commonly found:

This is the typical type of WAN installation, which is connected both sides via T1 link and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) link. The important point to note in this network is that there are multiple paths across the entire network, with T1 and ISDN links, and techniques for connecting to each side. T1 is the main link, operating at 1.544 Mbps; ISDN is a backup link that backs up when the primary link fails or fails. ISDN is the first technology that allows to pay according to the used traffic and is the perfect technology to keep un-enforced functions until needed. It has a lower transfer rate (about 64 Kbps) but consumes less power, suitable for standard services. Bandwidth provides additional network traffic time for packets and adds latency or delay to network traffic.Latency ( latency ) is the amount of time a packet is transferred from one point to another. Pathping is a very good tool for checking this parameter . Latency can be measured by the amount of time a test packet starts being sent until it returns to the sender. The real number is very odd, often rounded and called latency.

Pathping can show you not only how packets are formed and transmitted in the network but also the exact leads (like T1) or their "drifting" process between interlinked links, usually ISDN . The word detects and shows you a "dead" configuration link and whether there is any congestion in your network. Thus, problems related to latency are determined. Lack of bandwidth, delay or delay can cause time-out errors in data transmission activities. Pathping allows you to send multiple request alerts to each router between you (ie source address) and the destination you intend to arrive. After a certain amount of time, Pathping will show the results returned from each router the packets pass through.

Syntax

To use pathping , simply open the command window on the source machine and run the test program. If you want to use the next illustration as in the example, you need to add an IP address. It will help you show the test content. You can see in the picture below that the PC is used to check that it is placed on the B side with the IP address of 10.1.2.4. This system wants to check the path to Party A, a server with an IP address of 10.1.1.5.

Running pathping is not difficult. Open the Command Promp window (go to Start -> Run -> cmd ) and type pathping command.

The pathping command has many options, including:

-nNgăn pathping from an attempt to resolve the intermediate router's IP address to their name. This option is used when there is a problem with handling names or such as DNS not configured on your system, etc. Using this option helps you reduce the time spent on communicating with the server name.-h The largest number of steps available in the path to reach the destination. The default value is 30 steps. -P Is the timeout (in milliseconds) between consecutive ping commands. The default value is 250 milliseconds (ie ¼ seconds) .- q Describes the number of Echo Request messages (Re-signaling request) sent to each router in the path. The default value is 100 query.-w Is the waiting time between responses (in milliseconds). The default value is 3000 milliseconds (ie 3 seconds). /? Show help in the Command Prompt command window.

There are a number of other options, but the options above are the most popular. If you want to learn more, you can use the Help function. It will give a full list of options in Windows Command Prompt window.

To use Pathping , start the pathping command from source to destination and allow it to perform its calculations.

D:> pathping -n server-1

Tracing route to server-1 [10.1.1.5]
over một tối đa 30 hops:
0 10.1.2.1
1 10.1.1.1
2 10.1.1.5

Computing statistics for 50 seconds .
Nguồn đến Here This Node / Link
Hop RTT Lost / Sent = Pct Lost / Sent = Pct Address
0 10.1.2.1
0/100 = 0% |
1 35ms 0/100 = 0% 0/100 = 0% 10.1.1.1
13/100 = 13% |
2 28ms 16/100 = 16% 3/100 = 3% 10.1.1.5
0/100 = 0% |

Trace complete.

Inside:

1. Tracing route to 10.0.0.5 over a maximum of 30 hops : Determine the route to 10.1.1.5 with a maximum of 30 steps.
2. Computing statistics for 50 seconds . : Calculate parameters for 50 seconds.
3. Source to Here This Node / Link : From source to current machine: Button / Link
4. Trace complete : The process of determining completion.

In this example I focused on the basics and omitted some unnecessary text to focus exactly on what we need to know: parameters and how to read them. You will see a small delay in the second transmission step (10.1.1.1), moving the link to the next transfer of 10.1.1.5. In this section we will see a small amount of normal latency that has such size and link speed. If the millisecond time ratio is very high as 500 ms, there may be a bandwidth problem. As you can see, pathping not only "verifies" the connection to the destination host, but also shows you how network traffic works and how fast they are, the amount of impedance encountered in the network. wide area, is a very common bottleneck.

Here's another example, using pathping in the product network to check inside a production LAN that connects to the Internet and a Web browser.

When running pathping , you need a little patience. First, pathping will produce the result as if you are using Tracert or Traceroute, a similar utility will be introduced in the following article. Tracert will show you the 'path' over the network and verify the connection but doesn't tell you how the packet is transmitted in relation to speed, bandwidth usage and latency. The next step, depending on the amount of transmission (how many steps the router needs to be analyzed) is to check the pathping result according to the Lost / Sent = Pct and Address columns. This checkout process shows you information such as whether both links are already in use (if you have a high 'death rate'), . The link rate (ie link) is lost. represents the vertical bars (|) in the Address column indicating that the link blockage is the cause of lost packets transmitted on the path. The loss rate at the router (determined by their IP address) indicates that these routers may encounter problems with overflow or saturation.

Note :

If you see a "*" sign, don't be bothered, maybe a firewall has blocked ICMP so you don't get a reply despite the fact it was sent. ACL (Access Control Lists) and firewall rule sets often ignore the network test program because of this. Make sure you know your network layout when you intend to fix it and include it in a general review activity.

Summary

In this article we looked at the basics of using pathping. Maybe you should look for more information to understand more about ICMP and how to use pathping. You should also consider debugging or troubleshooting your product networks. We will continue to send you the relevant content later.