CDN example
A thumbnail I found for a YouTube video came from a server named i.ytimg.com.
Name Lookups
When looked up from the SFU network, I get these IP addresses:
$ nslookup i.ytimg.com
Server: 206.12.16.14
Address: 206.12.16.14#53
Non-authoritative answer:
i.ytimg.com canonical name = ytimg.l.google.com.
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 199.212.24.19
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 199.212.24.20
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 199.212.24.22
<snip>
Doing the same from California (Amazon us-west-1):
$ nslookup i.ytimg.com
Server: 172.31.0.2
Address: 172.31.0.2#53
Non-authoritative answer:
i.ytimg.com canonical name = ytimg.l.google.com.
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 216.58.192.46
From Singapore (Amazon ap-southeast-1):
$ nslookup i.ytimg.com
Server: 172.31.0.2
Address: 172.31.0.2#53
Non-authoritative answer:
i.ytimg.com canonical name = ytimg.l.google.com.
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 74.125.130.101
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 74.125.130.102
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 74.125.130.113
<snip>
And Frankfurt (Amazone eu-central-1):
$ nslookup i.ytimg.com
Server: 172.31.0.2
Address: 172.31.0.2#53
Non-authoritative answer:
i.ytimg.com canonical name = ytimg.l.google.com.
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.65.113
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.65.138
Name: ytimg.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.65.139
<snip>
Network Latency
The results of a traceroute from SFU to see how far away these are:
$ traceroute 199.212.24.19 # SFU lookup
traceroute to 199.212.24.19 (199.212.24.19), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 142.58.21.254 (142.58.21.254) 0.583 ms 0.564 ms 0.556 ms
2 bby-sh1125-x-1-bby-tasc1-8108-g-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.45.162) 0.518 ms 0.525 ms 0.523 ms
3 van-hcc1360-x-1-1g-bby-sh1125-x-1-1g.net.sfu.ca (142.58.29.18) 1.351 ms 1.352 ms 1.345 ms
4 van-hcc1360-j-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.254.130) 1.338 ms 1.331 ms 1.325 ms
5 608-IX-cr1-SFUV.vncv1.bc.net (134.87.0.99) 1.677 ms 1.659 ms 1.663 ms
6 vncv1rtr2.canarie.ca (199.212.24.64) 1.656 ms 1.504 ms 1.497 ms
7 * * *
$ traceroute 216.58.192.46 # us-west-1 lookup
traceroute to 216.58.192.46 (216.58.192.46), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 142.58.21.254 (142.58.21.254) 0.581 ms 0.561 ms 0.553 ms
2 bby-sh1125-x-1-bby-tasc1-8108-g-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.45.162) 0.516 ms 0.523 ms 0.518 ms
3 van-hcc1360-x-1-1g-bby-sh1125-x-1-1g.net.sfu.ca (142.58.29.18) 1.376 ms 1.377 ms 1.370 ms
4 van-hcc1360-j-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.254.130) 1.329 ms 1.320 ms 1.314 ms
5 608-IX-cr1-SFUV.vncv1.bc.net (134.87.0.99) 1.594 ms 1.596 ms 1.590 ms
6 vncv1rtr2.canarie.ca (199.212.24.64) 1.583 ms 1.651 ms 1.627 ms
7 six.sea01.google.com (206.81.80.17) 5.059 ms 5.060 ms 5.044 ms
8 66.249.94.214 (66.249.94.214) 5.561 ms 66.249.94.212 (66.249.94.212) 5.066 ms 66.249.94.214 (66.249.94.214) 5.447 ms
9 209.85.251.237 (209.85.251.237) 5.050 ms 66.249.94.201 (66.249.94.201) 5.038 ms 209.85.251.237 (209.85.251.237) 5.035 ms
10 209.85.240.228 (209.85.240.228) 8.353 ms 8.355 ms 72.14.238.38 (72.14.238.38) 8.346 ms
11 72.14.232.62 (72.14.232.62) 33.206 ms 33.188 ms 30.047 ms
12 209.85.246.21 (209.85.246.21) 23.986 ms 43.780 ms 23.970 ms
13 74.125.37.43 (74.125.37.43) 24.378 ms 24.380 ms 24.254 ms
14 nuq04s30-in-f46.1e100.net (216.58.192.46) 23.870 ms 23.841 ms 23.845 ms
$ traceroute 74.125.130.101 # ap-southeast-1 lookup
traceroute to 74.125.130.101 (74.125.130.101), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 142.58.21.254 (142.58.21.254) 0.574 ms 0.751 ms 0.747 ms
2 bby-sh1125-x-1-bby-tasc1-8108-g-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.45.162) 0.509 ms 0.515 ms 0.510 ms
3 van-hcc1360-x-1-1g-bby-sh1125-x-1-1g.net.sfu.ca (142.58.29.18) 1.365 ms 1.366 ms 1.361 ms
4 van-hcc1360-j-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.254.130) 1.350 ms 1.345 ms 1.338 ms
5 608-IX-cr1-SFUV.vncv1.bc.net (134.87.0.99) 1.599 ms 1.322 ms 1.591 ms
6 vncv1rtr2.canarie.ca (199.212.24.64) 1.585 ms 1.632 ms 1.621 ms
7 six.sea01.google.com (206.81.80.17) 5.126 ms 5.108 ms 10.145 ms
8 66.249.94.212 (66.249.94.212) 12.173 ms 20.548 ms 5.117 ms
9 209.85.251.239 (209.85.251.239) 5.125 ms 74.125.37.211 (74.125.37.211) 5.123 ms 209.85.251.239 (209.85.251.239) 5.111 ms
10 209.85.143.0 (209.85.143.0) 97.814 ms 98.305 ms 98.308 ms
11 209.85.255.128 (209.85.255.128) 161.726 ms 160.490 ms 209.85.255.130 (209.85.255.130) 160.499 ms
12 209.85.248.25 (209.85.248.25) 160.463 ms 209.85.246.23 (209.85.246.23) 160.992 ms 209.85.244.25 (209.85.244.25) 160.124 ms
13 * * *
14 sb-in-f101.1e100.net (74.125.130.101) 160.871 ms 161.513 ms 160.370 ms
$ traceroute 173.194.65.113 # eu-central-1 lookup
traceroute to 173.194.65.113 (173.194.65.113), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 142.58.21.254 (142.58.21.254) 0.576 ms 0.556 ms 0.548 ms
2 bby-sh1125-x-1-bby-tasc1-8108-g-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.45.162) 0.510 ms 0.517 ms 0.511 ms
3 van-hcc1360-x-1-1g-bby-sh1125-x-1-1g.net.sfu.ca (142.58.29.18) 66.125 ms 66.131 ms 66.126 ms
4 van-hcc1360-j-1.net.sfu.ca (142.58.254.130) 1.381 ms 1.382 ms 1.376 ms
5 608-IX-cr1-SFUV.vncv1.bc.net (134.87.0.99) 1.601 ms 1.602 ms 1.595 ms
6 vncv1rtr2.canarie.ca (199.212.24.64) 1.588 ms 1.583 ms 1.581 ms
7 google-1-lo-std-707.sttlwa.pacificwave.net (207.231.242.20) 4.927 ms 4.901 ms 4.913 ms
8 209.85.249.32 (209.85.249.32) 5.209 ms 5.147 ms 209.85.249.34 (209.85.249.34) 5.400 ms
9 66.249.94.201 (66.249.94.201) 5.145 ms 5.139 ms 5.132 ms
10 72.14.233.110 (72.14.233.110) 148.373 ms 209.85.241.42 (209.85.241.42) 54.594 ms 53.785 ms
11 72.14.232.72 (72.14.232.72) 66.302 ms 209.85.143.114 (209.85.143.114) 66.414 ms 66.387 ms
12 209.85.143.123 (209.85.143.123) 140.188 ms 140.318 ms 72.14.235.90 (72.14.235.90) 140.290 ms
13 209.85.240.28 (209.85.240.28) 145.010 ms 216.239.48.76 (216.239.48.76) 145.996 ms 145.976 ms
14 74.125.37.121 (74.125.37.121) 149.322 ms 149.407 ms 149.157 ms
15 216.239.49.30 (216.239.49.30) 148.995 ms 209.85.251.25 (209.85.251.25) 148.990 ms 216.239.49.30 (216.239.49.30) 148.967 ms
16 * * *
17 ee-in-f113.1e100.net (173.194.65.113) 147.882 ms 149.104 ms 149.090 ms
Conclusion
Getting a nearby server saved me >150 ms in round-trip ping time. That is certainly a user-detectable difference.
Updated Mon Aug. 30 2021, 07:36 by ggbaker.