Open Your TCPIP Toolkit

Open Your TCP/IP Toolkit

If you're going to attach to the Internet (and who isn't, these days?), you want to build a TCP/IP toolkit to help with the inevitable troubleshooting chores involved in keeping a TCP/IP network working properly.

Fortunately, Windows 2003 includes a fine collection of TCP/IP tools and utilities that you can use immediately. Table 23-1 includes some prime candidates for your IP troubleshooting toolbox. Given this arsenal of tools, you should be well prepared to shoot TCP/IP troubles before they shoot you!

 

Table 23-1: TCP/IP Diagnostic Utilities

Utility	Description
ARP	Displays the address translation tables used by the IP Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). Helps detect invalid entries and ensure proper resolution of numeric IP addresses to Media Access Control (MAC) addresses.
HOSTNAME	Displays your IP host name on-screen. Use this to check your machine's current name .
IPCONFIG	Displays all current network configuration values for all interfaces. Use this to check address assignments for your machine, the default gateway, and the subnet mask.
NBTSTAT	Shows protocol statistics and active connections using NetBIOS over TCP/IP. Use this to troubleshoot Microsoft naming issues.
NETSTAT	Shows active TCP and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) connections. Use this to check TCP/IP network connections and statistics.
NSLOOKUP	Displays information about known DNS servers.
PING	Verifies basic connectivity to network computers. Type PING loopback to check internal capabilities first, and then check local and remote machines to check overall connectivity.
ROUTE	Displays network routing tables and enables you to edit entries; useful primarily when static routing is in effect.
TRACERT	Determines the route from the sender to a destination by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo packets that cause all stations between sender and receiver to announce themselves .