points in the internet

[netuser]

hi,
i am a beginner in networking area. for curiosity i started reading about several protocols. i also tried linux terminal commands for example ping, traceroute.
i read about traceroute that it traces the path through certain points in the internet. i wanted to know what is meant by points in internet. is it autonomous systems? any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[SuperSparks]

Basically, traffic across the internet is done in a series of "hops" between routers that sit between your computer and the destination computer. What Traceroute is doing, is pinging each one of those intermediate servers along the route. This means that you can see the route that is being taken, and also see if there are problems along the route. Not all servers will accept ping requests though, so expect to get a certain amount of "Request timed out" replies from various hops.

[SuperSparks]

Oops, forgot to post this link:




www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traceroute