Ping

Ping is the name of a computer network tool used on TCP/IP networks (such as the Internet). It provides a basic test of whether a particular host is operating properly and is reachable on the the network from the testing host. It works by sending ICMP packets to the target host and listening for replies; its operation is vaguely analogous to sonar in submarines, hence the name.

The tool was written by Mike Muuss.

Related network tools include traceroute.

Sample ping output

Below is a sample output where we ping the wikipedia.com server:

 tux@debian:~$ ping -c 5 wikipedia.com
 PING wikipedia.com (130.94.122.195): 56 data bytes
 64 bytes from 130.94.122.195: icmp_seq=0 ttl=235 time=284.3 ms
 64 bytes from 130.94.122.195: icmp_seq=1 ttl=235 time=292.9 ms
 64 bytes from 130.94.122.195: icmp_seq=2 ttl=235 time=289.7 ms
 64 bytes from 130.94.122.195: icmp_seq=3 ttl=235 time=282.4 ms
 64 bytes from 130.94.122.195: icmp_seq=4 ttl=235 time=272.0 ms

 
 --- wikipedia.com ping statistics ---
 5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
 round-trip min/avg/max = 272.0/284.2/292.9 ms
 tux@debian:~$

External Link

• The Story of the PING Program (http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/ping) by its author, Mike Muuss

Ping is also a character in the book The Story about Ping[?], by Marjorie Flack[?] and Kurt Wiese[?] (see slashdot review (http://slashdot.org/books/99/01/31/1246212.shtml))