PATHPING

PATHPING (Windows 2000)

Trace route and provide network latency and packet loss for each router and link in the path.

Syntax
      PATHPING [-n] [-h max_hops] [-g host_list] [-p period]
         [-q num_queries] [-w timeout] [-t] [-R] [-r] target_name

Key
   -n               Don't resolve addresses to hostnames
   -h max_hops      Max number of hops to search, default=30
   -g host_list     Loose source route along host-list
                    up to 9 hosts in dotted decimal notation, separated by spaces.
   -p period        Wait between pings, default=250 (milliseconds)
   -q num_queries   Number of queries per hop, default=100
   -w timeout       Wait timeout for each reply, default is 3000 (milliseconds)
   -T               Test each hop with Layer-2 priority tags (QoS connectivity)
   -R               Test if each hop is Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) aware

All parameters are Case-Sensitive
Pathping is invaluable for determining which routers or subnets may be having network problems - it displays the degree of packet loss at any given router or link.

Pathping sends multiple Echo Request messages to each router between a source and destination over a period of time and computes aggregate results based on the packets returned from each router.

Pathping performs the equivalent of the tracert command by identifying which routers are on the path.

To avoid network congestion and to minimize the effect of burst losses, pings should be sent at a sufficiently slow pace (not too frequently.)

When -p is specified, pings are sent individually to each intermediate hop. When -w is specified, multiple pings can be sent in parallel. It's therefore possible to choose a Timeout parameter that is less than the wait Period * Number of hops.

Firewalls
Like tracert PathPing uses Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) over TCP/IP. Many firewalls will block ICMP traffic by default. If an attacker is able to forge ICMP redirect packets, he or she can alter the routing tables on the host and possibly subvert the security of the host by causing traffic to flow via a path you didn't intend.

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Posted: 2006-11-27
By: FortyPoundHead
Viewed: 2,183 times

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