Show HN: Asroute – View unique networks traversed by traceroute (opens in new tab)

(github.com)

58 pointssteven_pack5y ago17 comments

17 comments

Traceroute is fine for casual analysis but it is inaccurate and/or incomplete for anything serious because it misses routers that use load balancing on packet headers. For research purposes, it's better to use Paris Traceroute: https://paris-traceroute.net

> Why should you use Paris traceroute?

> Because traceroute fails in the presence of routers that employ load balancing on packet header fields. The failures lead to the discovery of inaccurate and incomplete paths, that may mislead operators during problem diagnosis and result in erroneous internet maps. Paris traceroute, by controling packet header contents, obtains a more precise picture of the actual routes that packets follow.

cmroanirgo5y ago

just stumbled across: https://www.dublin-traceroute.net

> Dublin Traceroute uses the techniques invented by the authors of Paris-traceroute to enumerate the paths of ECMP flow-based load balancing, but introduces a new technique for NAT detection.

jlgaddis5y ago

There are also Python bindings [0] for dublin-traceroute which allows things like analysis with pandas or generating charts.

---

[0]: https://github.com/insomniacslk/python-dublin-traceroute

travbrack5y ago

This looks neat. Do you know what specifically it does differently than the traditional one? The blurb is vague and the "learn more" link is dead.

dmytton5y ago

There is also the paper that introduced it at https://paris-traceroute.net/images/imc2006.pdf

gpvos5y ago

Try the "about" link at the top.

1 more reply

052c7028e5y ago

Akamai uses something similar to perform trace routes in-band of HTTP TCP sessions to clients: https://datatracker.ietf.org/meeting/94/materials/slides-94-...

jart5y ago

If anyone's curious how the tool is obtaining this information:

    $ dig +short TXT 8.8.8.8.origin.asn.cymru.com
    "15169 | 8.8.8.0/24 | US | arin | 1992-12-01"
    $ dig +short TXT AS15169.asn.cymru.com
    "15169 | US | arin | 2000-03-30 | GOOGLE, US"

jlgaddis5y ago

Related: "Traceroute Lies! A Typical Misinterpretation Of Output" [0], previously discussed here on HN [1].

---

[0]: https://movingpackets.net/2017/10/06/misinterpreting-tracero...

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15474043

smnv5y ago

mtr -z? I mean, it is a good learning effort, but if someone doesn’t know about mtr, they should: https://bitwizard.nl/mtr/

iso12105y ago

To be fair the man page on my nearest ubuntu machine says

       -z, --aslookup
              MISSING

I assume from the context that it does the mtr equiv "traceroute -A" though

steven_packOP5y ago

-z only shows AS numbers, not names. The point of this is to quickly tell you companies and networks you recognize. Also, mtr requires sudo to run.

JosephRedfern5y ago

This just shows AS number rather than name, though, right?

samoa425y ago

while the as_number->as_name lookup is usefull i would have opted for adding this feature to one (or more) of the existing utilities (traceroute, mtr, paris-traceroute) instead of crafting yet another command.

jlgaddis5y ago

FWIW:

  $ traceroute -A ...

  $ mtr -z ...

steven_packOP5y ago

-A gets you the AS, my tool looks up the name. So you can see "Oh, it goes from Comcast, to Cogent to Google." cool. Rather than ASNs which you don't immediately recognize.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

17 comments

dmytton5y ago

> Why should you use Paris traceroute?

cmroanirgo5y ago

just stumbled across: https://www.dublin-traceroute.net

> Dublin Traceroute uses the techniques invented by the authors of Paris-traceroute to enumerate the paths of ECMP flow-based load balancing, but introduces a new technique for NAT detection.

jlgaddis5y ago

There are also Python bindings [0] for dublin-traceroute which allows things like analysis with pandas or generating charts.

---

[0]: https://github.com/insomniacslk/python-dublin-traceroute

travbrack5y ago

This looks neat. Do you know what specifically it does differently than the traditional one? The blurb is vague and the "learn more" link is dead.

dmytton5y ago

There is also the paper that introduced it at https://paris-traceroute.net/images/imc2006.pdf

gpvos5y ago

Try the "about" link at the top.

1 more reply

052c7028e5y ago

Akamai uses something similar to perform trace routes in-band of HTTP TCP sessions to clients: https://datatracker.ietf.org/meeting/94/materials/slides-94-...

jart5y ago

If anyone's curious how the tool is obtaining this information:

    $ dig +short TXT 8.8.8.8.origin.asn.cymru.com
    "15169 | 8.8.8.0/24 | US | arin | 1992-12-01"
    $ dig +short TXT AS15169.asn.cymru.com
    "15169 | US | arin | 2000-03-30 | GOOGLE, US"

jlgaddis5y ago

Related: "Traceroute Lies! A Typical Misinterpretation Of Output" [0], previously discussed here on HN [1].

---

[0]: https://movingpackets.net/2017/10/06/misinterpreting-tracero...

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15474043

smnv5y ago

mtr -z? I mean, it is a good learning effort, but if someone doesn’t know about mtr, they should: https://bitwizard.nl/mtr/

iso12105y ago

To be fair the man page on my nearest ubuntu machine says

       -z, --aslookup
              MISSING

I assume from the context that it does the mtr equiv "traceroute -A" though

steven_packOP5y ago

-z only shows AS numbers, not names. The point of this is to quickly tell you companies and networks you recognize. Also, mtr requires sudo to run.

JosephRedfern5y ago

This just shows AS number rather than name, though, right?

samoa425y ago

jlgaddis5y ago

FWIW:

  $ traceroute -A ...

  $ mtr -z ...

steven_packOP5y ago

-A gets you the AS, my tool looks up the name. So you can see "Oh, it goes from Comcast, to Cogent to Google." cool. Rather than ASNs which you don't immediately recognize.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse