Which command can provide a continuous report on the first 10 routers in a path from source to destination?

The command that provides a continuous report on the first 10 routers in a path from source to destination is mtr. MTR, which stands for "My Traceroute," combines the functionalities of both the traceroute and ping commands. It continuously sends packets to the destination and provides real-time feedback on the route taken by the packets, displaying statistics such as packet loss and round-trip time for each hop along the path.

This command is particularly useful for network diagnostics, as it allows users to monitor packet behavior and network latency over time, making it easier to identify potential issues with specific routers or segments in the route. By default, MTR will usually show the first 30 hops in a route, but it can be configured to display fewer hops if desired.

Other commands listed, while related to network diagnostics, serve different purposes. Traceroute identifies the route taken by packets to reach a destination, but it typically provides a one-time report rather than continuous updates. Ping is primarily used to check the reachability of a host and measure round-trip time without providing hop-by-hop detail, and iperf is a tool used for measuring maximum TCP and UDP bandwidth performance, not for tracing routes.