Checking the network connectivity and server availability is very important if you are a website owner. It can be done by a ping test. If you are not familiar with ping, then this article is for you.
In this article, we will discuss what ping is and how to use it.
So, keep scrolling if you are curious to know about it.
What is Ping?
Ping is a network utility program or tool for testing whether a specific host can be reached. It is a diagnostic that checks if your computer is connected to a server. In ping, which is inspired by submarine echolocation, you send a data packet to the server, and if it receives it, you have a connection.
In network communications, “ping” refers to the time it takes for a data packet to travel round-trip. It means “get the attention of” or “check the presence of”. An Internet ping test involves sending messages from one computer to another over a computer network.
In addition to checking whether a computer is connected to a network, ping indicates how reliable and fast the connection is.
What is the Ping Test?
Ping tests are used to determine whether a computer is connected to a network. In addition, it determines the delay or latency between the two computers. It is used to assure that a host computer which your computer is trying to access is operating.
During troubleshooting, ping tests are run to find out whether the connection is working and how fast the response is.
How to Test Ping?
If you are not sure whether ping is installed on your computer, then open a terminal (Mac OS or Linux) or a command prompt (Windows), and enter the command “ping –help”.
Once you receive a list of flags to use in the help section, there might be a problem because ping isn’t installed by default in some Linux distributions like Ubuntu. In Ubuntu, you can install ping with:
Sudo apt install iputils-ping
Another way to test ping is installed in your system would be using which that returns the path of any binary installed in your system:
which ping
# /usr/bin/ping # My result
Once you are able to use ping without any trouble, it is time to learn more about its primary function. If you are using an Internet connection or a local network, the ping command will connect you to any host on the Internet or in your local network.
There are many different types of hosts, such as computers, servers, routers, and printers.
The IP address of the website from which you wish to connect is the only argument Ping accepts. For example, we’ll try to connect to example.com.
$ ping example.com
Remember the “$” sign means we’re using a bash shell; in Powershell (Windows), it would be “>”. It is important not to copy the dollar symbol, only copy the command.
In the first place, it shows the domain name and IP address of the domain we are attempting to connect with. Data packets (usually 64 bytes) are then sent to the specified destination. The Ctrl + C key combination can be used to stop the ping command.
The message you’ll see should look something like the one below if you have a stable internet connection (which I am sure you do since you are reading this).
— example.com ping statistics —
It took 10192 milliseconds to transmit three packets, receive three packets, and lose none.
An IP address or a domain name has been pinging. This message shows the statistics. As you can see, ping sent three packets of data, receiving them all.
You will be able to access the Internet and the hosting service that provides the IP address without any problems. Similar processes occur when you browse a website, you (your browser) send data packets with your request, and the DNS (domain name service) transforms the domain into an IP address, after which the host sends the content back to us.
Obviously, we’re skipping a lot, but this explains the basics of network interaction.
As a pro-tip, in the event that you need a list of all the available flags whenever you run the command, all you need to do is invoke its manual page by either using the man or the –help flag.l.
Conclusion
An Internet ping test is practically as old as the Internet itself. The tool lets you test whether you’re able to access web servers or other networking devices and determine if you have an active internet connection. Moreover, when you are troubleshooting the network, you can run a ping test to check out the server response.
We hope that this article has helped you to know about Ping and how to use it. If yes, then let us know in the comment section.
