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Ping




Ping is a Computer Network tool used to test whether a particular Host is reachable across an IP network. Ping works by sending ICMP “echo request” Packet s to the target host and listening for ICMP “ Echo Response ” replies. Using interval timing and response rate, ping estimates the Round-trip Time and Packet Loss rate between hosts.


HISTORY

Mike Muuss wrote the program in December, 1983, as a tool to troubleshoot odd behavior on an IP network. He named it after the pulses of sound made by a Sonar , since its operation is analogous to active sonar in Submarine s, in which an operator issues a pulse of energy (a network packet) at the target, which then bounces from the target and is received by the operator. Later David L. Mills provided a Backronym , "Packet '''I'''nter'''n'''et '''G'''rouper (Groper)", also by other people "Packed '''I'''nter'''n'''et '''G'''opher ", after the small Rodent s.

The usefulness of ping in assisting the "diagnosis" of Internet connectivity issues was impaired from late in 2003 , when a number of Internet Service Provider s filtered out ICMP Type 8 ( Echo Request ) messages at their network boundaries. This was partly due to the increasing use of ping for target reconnaissance, for example by Internet Worms such as Welchia that flood the Internet with ping requests in order to locate new Host s to infect. Not only did the availability of ping responses leak information to an attacker, it added to the overall load on networks, causing problems to Router s across the Internet.

There are two schools of thought concerning ICMP on the public Internet: those who say it should be largely disabled to enable network 'stealth', and those who say it should be enabled to allow proper Internet diagnostics.


SAMPLE PINGING

The following is a sample output of pinging www.google.com under Linux with the iputils version of ping:

$ ping www.google.com
PING www.l.google.com (64.233.183.103) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=1 ttl=246 time=22.2 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=2 ttl=245 time=25.3 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=3 ttl=245 time=22.7 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=4 ttl=246 time=25.6 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=5 ttl=246 time=25.3 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=6 ttl=245 time=25.4 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=7 ttl=245 time=25.4 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=8 ttl=245 time=21.8 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=9 ttl=245 time=25.7 ms
64 bytes from 64.233.183.103: icmp_seq=10 ttl=246 time=21.9 ms

--- www.l.google.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 received, 0% packet loss, time 9008ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 21.896/24.187/25.718/1.619 ms

This output shows that www.google.com is a DNS CNAME record for www.l.google.com which then resolves to 64.233.183.103.
The output then shows the results of making 10 pings to 64.233.183.103 with the results summarized at the end.
  • smallest ping time was 21.896 milliseconds

  • average ping time was 24.187 milliseconds

  • maximum ping time was 25.718 milliseconds


The following is a sample output of pinging www.google.com under Microsoft Windows XP with its built-in version of ping:

C:\>ping www.google.com

Pinging www.l.google.com {Link without Title} with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 64.233.183.103: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=245
Reply from 64.233.183.103: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=245
Reply from 64.233.183.103: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=246
Reply from 64.233.183.103: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=246

Ping statistics for 64.233.183.103:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 22ms, Maximum = 25ms, Average = 23ms

This output shows that www.google.com is a DNS CNAME record for www.l.google.com which then resolves to 64.233.183.103.
The output then shows the results of making 4 pings to 64.233.183.103 with the results summarized automatically at the end.
  • smallest ping time was 22 milliseconds

  • average ping time was 23 milliseconds

  • maximum ping time was 25 milliseconds



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