Ping Monitoring (ICMP)
Monitor server and network device availability using ICMP ping. The most basic and reliable way to check if a host is reachable.
What is Ping Monitoring?
Ping monitoring uses the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) to check if a host is reachable on the network. It sends echo request packets and waits for echo reply packets, measuring response time and packet loss.
This is the most fundamental connectivity test, working at the network layer without requiring any specific services or ports to be running on the target host.
Configuration
Host
Specify the hostname or IP address to ping. Domain names will be resolved to IP addresses.
Examples:
• ping://example.com
• ping://192.168.1.1
• ping://server.internal.network
• ping://8.8.8.8
Check Frequency
How often to ping the host. Options range from 10 seconds to 60 minutes. For critical infrastructure, consider more frequent checks.
Timeout Settings
Maximum time to wait for a ping response. Default is typically 5 seconds. Increase for hosts with high latency or unreliable connections.
What Ping Monitoring Checks
Host Reachability
Verifies that the host is online and responding to network requests. This is the most basic test of whether a server or device is operational.
Response Time (Latency)
Measures round-trip time (RTT) for packets to reach the host and return. Helps identify network performance issues and connectivity degradation.
Packet Loss
Detects if packets are being dropped between your monitoring location and the target. High packet loss indicates network problems.
Network Path Availability
Confirms that the entire network path between the monitor and target is functional, including routers, switches, and firewalls.
Common Use Cases
Infrastructure Monitoring
- •Physical servers in data centers
- •Network devices (routers, switches, firewalls)
- •Virtual machines and cloud instances
- •IoT devices and embedded systems
Network Monitoring
- •WAN link availability between offices
- •Internet connectivity verification
- •VPN tunnel endpoint monitoring
- •ISP connection reliability
Basic Health Checks
- •Quick verification that a host is online
- •Lightweight monitoring for non-critical systems
- •Backup connectivity test when services are down
- •Initial troubleshooting step for connectivity issues
Advantages and Limitations
✓ Advantages
- •Works with any IP-enabled device
- •No specific ports or services required
- •Very low overhead and resource usage
⚠️ Limitations
- •Many cloud providers and hosting services disable ICMP by default for security
- •Only tests basic network connectivity - a successful ping doesn't mean your services are working
- •Corporate networks often block ICMP traffic at the firewall level
- •Provides minimal diagnostic information when issues occur
- •Cannot detect application-level problems like database failures or web server errors
Best Practices
- ✓Combine with service-specific monitoring
Use ping as a basic check, but also monitor specific services (HTTP, TCP) for complete coverage
- ✓Monitor from multiple locations
Distinguish between local network issues and actual host problems
- ✓Set reasonable thresholds
Allow for occasional packet loss; don't alert on single failed pings
- ✓Ensure ICMP is allowed
Verify firewalls permit ICMP echo requests and replies
- ✓Use for trend analysis
Track response time trends to identify gradual network degradation
Firewall Considerations
Many firewalls block ICMP traffic by default. To use ping monitoring effectively:
- 1.Allow ICMP echo requests (type 8) from our monitoring IP addresses
- 2.Allow ICMP echo replies (type 0) back to our monitors
- 3.Consider rate limiting instead of blocking to prevent abuse
- 4.Use our IP whitelist endpoint to get current monitor addresses