The Power Of Ping Command And Why I Need To Know

Dear Cybrarians I am Looking to understand basic concepts of ping command what does it means when there is total 4 packets loss and what it says to me ? and what 0% loss says to me how can I take advantages from ping command ? The Ping command can be a useful diagnostic tool. Ping is basicaly used to provide a simple connectivity test. 0% loss is good - it means that you have sent a request and the recipient has replied. 4 packet loss could indicate a problem. You have sent an echo request but received nothing back. This could be because you are pinging a non-existant IP address, an unreachable IP address or a number of other such issues. However it could also be because the ICMP protocol has been turned off or disabled. This is commonly done (particularly on swithes etc.) to prevent hackers or others with malicious intentions from knowing it is there. If you are going to make good use of the Ping command for diagnostic purposes then it is important that you understand your network and its setup. Ping is one of the most useful troubleshooting tools available to test your network connection. It is usually the very first test I run if I'm having connection problems. There is a series of ping tests which you can run to determine exactly where the problem is. 1. ping localhost -- pinging your own computer (localhost or 127.0.0.1) lets you know if the IP stack is working on your computer 2 ping the gateway -- this lets you know if your packets are leaving your computer and talking to the closest system on your local network 3. ping the IP of a distant system -- this lets you know if the routing works to get off your local network 4. ping the DNS address of a distant system -- this tests that DNS is working properly If any of these tests fail, then you know exactly where to start your troubleshooting.