<s>
Paping	B-Protocol
(	O
pronounced	O
pah	O
ping	B-Protocol
)	O
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
administration	O
utility	O
used	O
to	O
test	O
the	O
reachability	O
of	O
a	O
host	B-Device
on	O
an	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
TCP/IP	O
)	O
network	O
and	O
to	O
measure	O
the	O
time	O
it	O
takes	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
specified	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
is	O
a	O
play	O
on	O
the	O
word	O
ping	B-Protocol
,	O
another	O
computer	B-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
administration	O
utility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
ICMP	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
identify	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
of	O
a	O
remote	O
machine	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
sometimes	O
blocked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
ICMP	O
is	O
blocked	O
,	O
ping	B-Protocol
cannot	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
identify	O
if	O
the	O
service	O
is	O
responding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Publicly	O
available	O
services	O
must	O
keep	O
their	O
relevant	O
TCP	O
or	O
UDP	O
ports	O
open	O
,	O
paping	B-Protocol
can	O
attempt	O
to	O
make	O
connections	O
to	O
these	O
ports	O
to	O
determine	O
if	O
a	O
service	O
is	O
responding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
utilities	O
such	O
as	O
nmap	B-Language
allow	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
ports	O
to	O
be	O
scanned	O
,	O
however	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
allow	O
you	O
to	O
repetitively	O
scan	O
the	O
same	O
ports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paping	B-Protocol
operates	O
by	O
attempting	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
an	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
TCP/IP	O
port	O
on	O
the	O
target	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paping	B-Protocol
is	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
software	I-Operating_System
,	O
currently	O
supporting	O
Windows	O
and	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
is	O
a	O
sample	O
output	O
of	O
paping	B-Protocol
against	O
en.wikipedia.org	O
on	O
TCP/IP	O
port	O
80	O
(	O
http	B-Protocol
)	O
from	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
host	B-Device
:	O
</s>
