Need some help with the PING COMMAND in command prompt?

Question

say there is a pc named GCC3

with the Public IP = 124.43.130.171

and the private IP = 10.0.0.8

and its a part of a local area network of 4 computers, one acting as the server (i think, as all 4 computers have the same Public IP. i'm a newbie to networking)

The computer name of the server is GCC4

with the Public IP = 124.43.130.171

and the private IP = 10.0.0.7

Now the problem is I can ping the server by typing "ping 124.43.130.171" and get replies. But that replies comes from the computer acting as the sever (GCC4) right? How do i know if the computer named GCC3 is up and running? I tried typing ping 124.43.130.171:10.0.0.8 but that didn't work. Any ideas? anyone?

thanks

Answer 1

Well ping 10.0.0.8 which is the private ip address.. or also you can ping it by the computer name eg: ping GCC3 and if it replies you notice that right  above when it starts to reply, it will give you the local ip address for the machine's network..thats how you know that the named GCC3 and it is active in the network. now if you are trying to access the computer to get some shared Data you have to make sure the machine firewall is configured properly. or disable especially the windows firewall that tends to give a little trouble.

Answer 2

Just ping the private IP:  <<prompt>> ping 10.0.0.8

If you get a reply, it means the computer is up and running.

Alternatively, just ping the computer's name: <<prompt>> ping GCC3

If the computer is up and running, you'll get a reply **and** it will tell you the computer's IP address.

Because you're only pinging within your own private network, you don't need to include your public IP at all.  Hope that helps!

EDIT - I didn't realize you were pinging from outside the network.  That **does** make a difference in how you can check on whether a remote computer is up and running.  Here's another way to check, but it'll require a trip to the location to set things up.  This way uses Remote Desktop Connection plus network shares.

1) Make sure the server is set up to accept remote desktop connection requests.

2) Make sure the router is designed to forward port 3389 (Remote Desktop Connection) requests to the server.

3) Make sure you have access to an account on the network with administrative priviliges.

4) Make sure that account has a share that it's specifically authorized to access on each computer you want to check on.

Once that's all set up, from outside the network, do the following ...

1) Run Remote Desktop Connection.  Enter the public IP address into the window that comes up.

2) In the login dialog box that comes up next, enter the username and password of the network account from steps 3 and 4 above.

3) Once you're logged in, go to My Computer and try to get on to the shares you've set up on the other computers.  For example, try to map a drive letter to those shares.

If the RDC login succeeds, you know the server is up and running.  And for each share you're able to access, you know that particular computer is up and running.