How to test whether a host is reachable?

[Fabian Steiner]

Hello!

Chris Mellon wrote:
> On 2/22/07, Fabian Steiner <lists at fabis-site.net> wrote:
>> [...]
>> Now I am wondering if there isn't any better method which would be more
>> general. In fact, I think of something like a python version of ping
>> which only tries to send ICMP packets. However, I don't know what the
>> code has to look like then. Any ideas or suggestions?
>>
> 
> This is the only reliable way of telling if you can communicate with a
> service on a machine. A ping will tell you if it's connected to the
> network, but not if it is actually providing any services.
> 
> If you really want a ping, the common way is to just execute the systems 
> ping.

Ok, obviously, my approach was already the best way to achive this aim.

Thanks for you help,
Fabian