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.
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:~$
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))
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump