How to use Ping command
The ping command is the most widely used of all network utilities.
It is a tool used to test issues like network connectivity and name resolution. For example let’s go ahead and ping the host’s ip address. So at the command prompt I would type “ping” and then the IP address, then press Enter.
Now it will send 4 data packets to the destination ip address we chose and then the destination will send data packets back to us as a response, these responses are called echo requests.
These responses will inform us about what is happening with the destination host we are searching for.
For example if we receive a response, it means that there is a public network connecting between us and the destination, but if we do not get a response, it means that there is no response from the host and it may mean that the network is not connecting us.
But if we pinged a host and we get a message saying “Request timed out”, then this could mean that the host is down or it is blocking all ping requests. Or in another scenario, after pinging,
if we receive a message saying “Destination host unreachable”, then that message comes from the router, meaning that the route to the destination cannot be found.
The ping command can also be used to test name accuracy.
For example, before we used the ping command with an IP address,but we can also use it with a domain name.
For example, we could type the space “ping” and then the domain name “yahoo.com”. So by pushing the domain name,if we get the same successful result as type in IP address
then this indicates that the name resolution by DNS is working fine.
But let’s just assume that the ping domain name fails, then the next step will be to write the ip address instead of that so if by writing in the ip address, if the ping command is successful this time
we now know that we are having a problem with the ping command dns also to be side Combined with other subcommands call keys.
The keys are used to change even the ping utility parameters.
You can view the full list of keys by typing “ping” then splash forward a question mark.
How to use Tracert command
The next utility is called Tracert, which stands for Tracing Path.
This utility is used to find out the exact path a data packet takes on its way to the destination.
For example, let’s go ahead and follow the path from one computer to another computer. So at the command prompt, we’ll type “tracert” space then the IP address and press Enter.
Now the data packet will find its way to the destination. And every time it reaches a router on its way,
it will report information about the router. Such as an IP address and the time it takes for each to hop
so the Tracert utility is a great tool that can be used to determine where a problem lies on the network if a data packet cannot reach the destination.
So for example if we try to ping a destination and the command fails a pain we can use tracert
utility to find out where the data packet is on its way.
So let’s go ahead and trace the path of this IP again and let’s assume this time there was a problem. So let’s type in “tracert” and the ip address.
And as the data packet goes along its path, it will tell us in which area the problem lies. And the data package stops here.
Even the utility Tracert has isolated that the problem is somewhere between these two routers.