Down for Everyone or Just Me? How to Read Network Trace Logs During a Global Outage
How Do You Tell If a Server Is Down Globally or Just for You?
The fastest way to determine if a service is globally down is to cross-reference three signals: a crowd-sourced outage monitor (Downdetector), a direct DNS resolution test, and a network traceroute. If all three indicate failure from multiple geographic vantage points, the issue is global. If only your traceroute fails while others succeed, the problem is in your ISP's routing path — not the destination server.
Quick Diagnostic Checklist
| Tool | What to Check | Global Down Signal | Local Issue Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downdetector | Report spike chart | Sudden spike, hundreds of reports | No spike or <10 reports |
| isitdownrightnow.com | HTTP response check | "Site is DOWN" | "Site is UP" but you can't reach it |
| nslookup / dig | DNS resolution | NXDOMAIN or no response | Returns valid IP |
| traceroute / MTR | Packet routing path | Fails at hosting provider hops | Fails at your ISP hops |
| cURL / HTTP test | HTTP response code | Timeout or 5xx from origin | 200 from external, timeout for you |
How to Diagnose: Down for Everyone or Just Me?
Step 1 — Check Crowd-Sourced Outage Monitors
Visit downdetector.com and search for the service name. A real global outage shows a sharp spike in reports (50+ per minute) starting at a specific timestamp. Also check isitdownrightnow.com and type the domain — it checks the HTTP response from its own servers, giving you an external perspective.
Step 2 — Test DNS Resolution
Open Terminal or Command Prompt and run: nslookup yourdomain.com 8.8.8.8
- Returns a valid IP: DNS is fine — the server itself may be down or your route to it is broken
- Returns NXDOMAIN: The domain has a DNS configuration problem or has expired
- Times out: Your DNS resolver (or Google's) cannot reach the domain's authoritative nameservers
Step 3 — Run a Traceroute
Windows: tracert yourdomain.com | macOS/Linux: traceroute yourdomain.com
Read the output hop by hop. Each line is a router. * * * means no response from that hop. If hops 1–5 respond and hops 10+ time out, the failure is near the destination (server-side or hosting provider). If hops 1–3 time out, your local router or ISP is the problem.
Step 4 — Use MTR for Continuous Monitoring
Install MTR (My Traceroute) — it combines ping and traceroute into a live display: mtr yourdomain.com. Look for the "Loss%" column. Consistent packet loss at specific hops identifies exactly where in the network path the connection is breaking. Share this output with support teams for faster diagnosis.
Step 5 — Test from an External Vantage Point
Use tools.pingdom.com or uptrends.com/tools/ping to send HTTP pings from servers in New York, London, Singapore, and Sydney simultaneously. If all locations fail, the outage is global. If only your region fails, contact your regional ISP or the service's CDN provider about a regional routing issue.
Verification
✓ How to Confirm Service Has Recovered
Run curl -I https://yourdomain.com — an HTTP 200 response confirms the server is accepting connections. Re-run your traceroute and confirm all hops respond without packet loss. For global outage confirmation, watch Downdetector's report chart return to its baseline. Save your MTR output as documentation if you need to raise a support case with your hosting provider or ISP.