What is Traceroute?
Traceroute is a tool in computer networks to determine the routing path between two hosts.
Operation
Different system implement traceroute in different ways.
First step of traceroute is to generate an ICMP 'Echo Request' packets (MS-Windows) with TTL equal to 1. When the first host in the path recieves the the packet with TTL=1 it will try to decrease it to 0 which will generate a reply back to the source with 'Time Exceed' ICMP error. when the source recieve the ICMP 'Time Exceed' it record the total delay of the packet (RTT) and the name/ip of the host, the source will then send a new ICMP 'Echo Request' but this time it will increase the TTL to 2, causing the next host in the path to reply with 'Time Exceed' ICMP error.
When the destination host recieves the source "Echo Request" it will reply with 'Echo Reply' packet.
Simulation
Simulation shows the theory behind traceroute in MS-Windows operating systems.
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