Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mapping the Internet

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the now-this-is-cool dept.

triple6 writes "No, this isn't spam. Bill Cheswick of Bell Labs has been mapping the entire Internet and then plotting the results, in color, on paper. The images are, well, stunning. Now, you can buy a poster of one of these images from Telegeography. The poster might be a bit pricey to use to decorate your dorm room. Personally, I'm going to wait for the t-shirt. " I just wish I had a little arrow that said "You Are Here". Those things are super cool.

4 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. See also... by Yarn · · Score: 4

    CyberGeography mirrored: here and here

    --
    -Yarn - Rio Karma: Excellent
  2. Re:Map of dynamic routing? by jabber · · Score: 3

    Very funny. How about stating it this way...

    The action of observing traffic patterns on the net changes said patterns, thereby rendering the findings inaccurate. There is an inverse relationship between the attempted precision of the observation and it's detrimental effect on the results.

    In real simple terms, you can only measure network delays by adding to the traffic, thereby increasing the delay. You can only traceroute by adding to the traffic, thereby potentially causing a load-balance change in the routes.

    The act of observation changes that which is being observed. Sounds a lot like the Heisenberg principle, applied more broadly, doesn't it?

    --

    -- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
  3. Need a key! by Awel · · Score: 3

    Wonderful pictures. But `coloured by IP address` isn`t enough. What colour represents what address? It would be cool to know, cause that way you`ve got a better idea of which part of the map you`re actually in..

  4. distorted 2d view by boog3r · · Score: 3

    WOW. that is really cool looking. i wonder how he handled multihomed hosts and isps.

    he more than likely didn't though. with bgp you will end up seeing a particular host on the internet only through one of their particular links.

    the only really true (an impossible) way to map the internet is traces from all hosts to all other hosts. that way you get a full view of the picture, not one that is distorted by being on one node of the internet.

    because of this one problem i think his maps should look like a tree and not a star. with a tree you get the more realistic view of only ONE viewing point.

    that is still better than any internet maps i have seen before :) hats off to the men who do things!

    --
    signatures are for fools with hands