Which command helps trace the path to a remote host?

Which command helps trace the path to a remote host?

• A. Ping
• B. Nslookup
• C. Traceroute (tracert on Windows)
• D. IPConfig

Answer: (C)

Tracing the path to a remote host involves uncovering each hop along the route. Traceroute, and its Windows version tracert, is built for this purpose. It sends packets with a small time-to-live value, and as routers along the path decrement that TTL to zero, each router sends back an ICMP time-exceeded message. By gradually increasing the TTL, you map every hop from your machine to the destination, so you can see the route and spot where delays or failures occur. On Windows, tracert performs the same function; on other systems you may see traceroute. Ping, by contrast, checks whether the destination is reachable and measures round-trip time to that single host, but it doesn’t reveal the route. Nslookup is a DNS tool used to resolve names to IPs and to query DNS records, not to trace a path. IPConfig shows your own device’s network configuration (such as IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway), not how to reach a remote host.

Tracing the path to a remote host involves uncovering each hop along the route. Traceroute, and its Windows version tracert, is built for this purpose. It sends packets with a small time-to-live value, and as routers along the path decrement that TTL to zero, each router sends back an ICMP time-exceeded message. By gradually increasing the TTL, you map every hop from your machine to the destination, so you can see the route and spot where delays or failures occur. On Windows, tracert performs the same function; on other systems you may see traceroute.

Ping, by contrast, checks whether the destination is reachable and measures round-trip time to that single host, but it doesn’t reveal the route. Nslookup is a DNS tool used to resolve names to IPs and to query DNS records, not to trace a path. IPConfig shows your own device’s network configuration (such as IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway), not how to reach a remote host.