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From: mfidelma@CC5.BBN.COM.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: ICMP As A Diagnostic Tool?
Message-ID: <8704021850.AA07934@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Thu, 2-Apr-87 13:22:21 EST
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Posted: Thu Apr  2 13:22:21 1987
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It's been my observation that ICMP provides some useful functionality for
isolating and diagnosing internetwork problems - e.g. by timing pings, 
looking at what percentage of echos come back, source routing packets via
specific paths, route recording, etc.

It strikes me that the lack of similar functionality for the OSI world may
lead to an OSI internet in which significant classes of problems can not
be fault isolated. I find this a rather scary thought.

Does anybody have any comments, or better yet, examples of specific internet
problems in which ICMP was used for diagnostic purposes?

Miles Fidelman
BBN Communications
mfidelman@bbn.com