Ping

Ping is a network utility tool available for most operating systems including Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is used to test the reachability of a host (usually a computer or server) on an Internet Protocol (IP) network. When ran, it measures the round-trip times of the packets that travel from their source to their destination and back.

The ping utility works in this manner, first a packet is sent, typically an Internet Control Message Protocal (ICMP)  Echo Request. The destination host, if reachable, responds with an ICMP echo reply. The sender then measures the round-trip time, the time it takes for the packet to travel to the destination and back.

The ping command can be used continuously to monitor the status of a connection. This isuseful for troubleshooting intermittent network issues while measuring the reachability, latency and packet loss of connections