Ping is a program that is used to test if there is a complete network connection from the server to the computer. The process of testing such connections is known as pinging. When the program is started, it sends a message to the distant computer and waits for a response. When a response is received from the specified computer, ping notifies the user that the computer is active, else there is no connection.
However, using ping cannot help in troubleshooting the lack of response from the specified computer. First, the server or the target computer might be turned off or detached from the network. Pinging cannot give the required details about network connectivity, and the response, in this case, would be a lack of connection. Second, the network device of the remote computer could have failed, leading to unavailable connectivity. Third, the network or the computers linking the user computer to the server could have failed or stopped working. Fourth, the network might be busy or congested therefore leading to poor connectivity. Fourth, some organizations set their networks to decline ping requests. Therefore, it is difficult for ping to establish the reasons for the lack of connections.