Among the multiple diagnostic tools for monitoring the performance of our home systems or VPS, we have Ping. This tool allows us to analyze the communication status of our conventional network or VPS (especially for unmanaged VPS services) and is one of the most widely used tools in global network administration, particularly in the gaming sector.
The origin of ping, according to its creator Mike Muuss, comes from submarines and their sonar systems. These send a sound signal that, upon bouncing off objects in its path, enables the detection of obstacles. Similarly, it allows the calculation of the distance and exact position of the object. Ping operates in the same way by checking connectivity between two hosts or the VPS server, for instance, and the time it takes for data packets to travel based on the response time.
What is ping?
Ping is a diagnostic utility that allows us to verify the connection status of devices within a computer network. Ping analyzes the communication between the local host and one or more remote IP network devices by sending ICMP request packets (ICMP Echo Request) and response packets (ICMP Echo Reply). This analysis command is applicable to any system and, indeed, to unmanaged VPS as part of their management systems.
Ping sends data packets from one device to another and waits for a response, thus verifying the connection status and speed based on the round-trip time, while also considering any data loss during the process. Therefore, a shorter time indicates higher connection quality and lower latency.
Like this system, we should also mention the existence of ATM ping, which is used in ATM networks. In this case, ATM level 2 frames of the OSI model are transmitted. In this way, ping can analyze whether the ATM links are correctly defined.
How does ping work?
The ping command is executed from the command console in Windows or the terminal in macOS with the command ping . It is worth noting that it works with the same command in Linux, although depending on the distribution, the terminal can be launched differently. It is also adaptable to VPS servers, particularly beneficial for managing unmanaged VPS services.
Ping invariably sends four packets, and the results indicate latency and TTL (time to live). It also specifies the number of packets sent and received, as well as those lost and the approximate round-trip time or latency. If ping does not return any results, it will show the message "Request timed out."
On the other hand, there is no ping utility for Android and iOS systems. However, access can be gained through applications. Another way to access ping without executing it on your own system is by using online tools that allow for the same verifications. For example, Ping.eu performs online checks.
With ping, a wide variety of verifications can be performed, depending on what is requested. Here are five functions:
- Verification of TCP/IP protocols
TCP/IP protocols are a set of network protocols that underlie the Internet, allowing data transmission between computers. By executing a localhost or ping 127.0.0.1, we can verify if the TCP/IP protocol set is properly installed and functioning. This also applies to VPS IPs.
- Verification of the network adapter
Executing ping for the IP of the local machine results in the packet being sent and received by our own device. This way, we can verify if the network card is functioning correctly.
- Verification of the local network
When pinging the IP of a nearby device, we can check if the wiring from the device to the network is working correctly. Similarly, it is possible to verify if the overall network wiring is operational by pinging the IP of the gateway.
- Verification of Internet connection
By executing ping on the URL of a website, we can verify if the Internet connection is functioning. In this context, the VPS IP can also be checked.
- Verification of DNS servers
Although it is not the best way to verify DNS servers, we can ping the URL of a well-known website to check the configuration of the DNS server IPs.
How to read ping results?
The first section of the results generated by ping refers to the responses from the analyzed server. The second section shows the number of packets that have been sent using the ping command and how many of them were lost. If high loss numbers are displayed, it indicates that ping was unable to connect to the IP address on one or more of the sends.
Additionally, the results show the latency times in milliseconds. These can be analyzed as follows:
- 0-100 ms: Optimal latency range for server responses. Times below 100 indicate a very fast response from servers, meaning very short load times.
- 100-150 ms: These results imply a higher delay, indicating elevated latency and long load times that may be correctable.
- +150 ms: These times indicate excessive server latency, which may be due to temporary issues or a lack of optimization.
In the case of analyzing websites, it is important to note that latency will be in relation to the contracted server. Thus, if the server registers a low latency indicator but has slow load times, we can diagnose that the issue lies in the website's optimization.
It is noteworthy that the ping command is frequently used to analyze the latency of the VPS server so that, in the case of unmanaged VPS, latency improvement management can be implemented.
As we have seen, the ping tool can greatly assist in managing our networks, both domestic and VPS virtualization systems. One of its functionalities is that it allows us to discover connection errors and analyze the latency of our connections. From this, by regularly executing this command, we can monitor network performance and control connection latency. It is essential for VPS analysis to have the VPS IP, which can be found on the VPS dashboard.
Moreover, by having an overview of network connections, we can reinforce security systems. In this sense, many firewalls are configured to block ping requests from untrusted networks. For all the aforementioned reasons, it is important to incorporate ping into our toolbox for frequent network management use.
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