Ping is a basic internet program that allows a user to test and verify if a particular destination IP address exists and can accept requests. It is a command-line program designed to allow network administrators to track the availability status of different devices in a network and to help discover network connectivity and latency issues. The name "ping" comes from sonar terminology, where a ping is an audible sound wave sent out to find an object. Similarly, the ping command sends out an echo request, and if it finds the target system, the remote host sends back an echo reply.
Ping works by sending an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request to a specified interface on the network and waiting for a reply). When a ping command is issued, a ping signal is sent to a specified address. When the target host receives the echo request, it responds by sending an echo reply packet. This approach serves two specific purposes: verifying that the target host is available and determining the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer that are echoed back to the source).
In gaming, ping is used to describe the delay between a gamers input and the servers response to that input. Ping measures the time it takes for data to travel from the users device to the server and back again, and a high ping can cause lag and other issues in online gaming.
