What utility monitors the network path of packet data to a remote computer?

The utility that monitors the network path of packet data to a remote computer is Traceroute. This tool is specifically designed to trace the route that packets take from the source to the destination, providing a detailed report of each hop along the way. It does this by sending a series of packets with incrementally increasing Time to Live (TTL) values, allowing it to identify intermediate devices such as routers and report back on their addresses and the time taken to reach each one.

Traceroute is especially useful for diagnosing network issues, as it can reveal where delays or packet loss may be occurring along the path to a desired host. In contrast, utilities like Ping primarily test connectivity to a destination and measure round-trip time, but do not provide detailed path information. Netstat is focused on network statistics and active connections, while ARP is concerned with mapping IP addresses to MAC addresses within a local network. Each of these tools serves different purposes, but Traceroute stands out for its specific function of mapping the network path to a remote computer.