Ping:

Ping (Packet Internet Groper) is a network diagnostic tool to test the connectivity between two devices. It is widely used to troubleshoot Internet connections. Ping works by sending an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) packet to the target host and receives a reply from the host. It also tells how much time a packet is taking (in ms) and how many packets are received or lost.

When do I use it:

A ping test is a method to check and ensure whether a computer is connected to the network. It can determine the latency or delay between the two computers. It can troubleshoot connectivity and response time. We can use the ping test for the following purposes

1. To test your website or web server as reachable
2. Test internet connectivity
3. Checks if you are facing any packet loss

How to use it:

In Microsoft Windows, the ping utility is available to run a ping test. Just identify the website, remote server or computer with its IP address or its name to run the ping test. The output will display the confirmation of a successful connection with the number of packets and the time period in milliseconds. As used in Windows OS, Linux and MacOSX also provide ping command program to run in it.

Here, the below steps shows how to run the ping test in Windows OS.

Step 1: Open your command prompt.

Step 2: Type ping, followed by a domain name or IP address.

Example:
ping 123.123.123.123
ping example.xyz

Likewise, open the terminal and run the same command in Linux.

For Mac OS X, click on Applications folder, Utilities -> Network Utility, then run the ping command.

Options:

/t – It sends Echo Request messages to the destination until interrupted manually.
/a – It tries to resolve and show the hostname of an IP address that is entered as the target.
/n count – To change the number of Echo request messages from 4 to something else.
/l size –  Sets the size of the of the Echo request messages that are sent to the target, from 32 to something else.
/f – Sends the Echo request with a message “Do Not Fragment” flag turned on so that the request is not fragmented by routers, on the way to the destination.
b – This option reports the time when the Echo request is received and each reply is sent.
/s srcaddr – It specifies the source address to use when working with IPV6 addresses.
/c compartments – Specifies the routing compartment identifier.
/p – pings a Hyper-V Network Virtualization provider address.
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