check_ping gives host check timed out instead of packet loss.

[Jim Avery]

2009/4/19 Gaurav Ghimire <gaurav at subisu.net.np>:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Hi all,
>
> I don't know if I am missing something here. But shouldn't the check_ping plugin give a 100% packet loss if the host is not reachable instead of
>  returning 'Host check timed out'. Yes this could be if there had been some issues with the DNS services or the server's load. But all seem to
> be fine with my nagios installation.
>
> Any references would be appreciated. I feel like I am missing something here, just don't know what in exact.

You are of course right, however if a host is genuinely down, this is
a fundamentally different state from a host which is up but connected
to an extremely slow and unreliable network.  By using this distinctly
different description, the plugin attempts to show this, although you
and I both know that the process it uses to arrive at this assessment
is based on whatever arbitrary parameters we have chosen and is not
always going to be correct.

The designer of the plugin no doubt took the view that it's
pragmatically more useful 'to draw the line somewhere', and I'm
inclined to agree with that.

Cheers,

Jim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stay on top of everything new and different, both inside and 
around Java (TM) technology - register by April 22, and save
$200 on the JavaOne (SM) conference, June 2-5, 2009, San Francisco.
300 plus technical and hands-on sessions. Register today. 
Use priority code J9JMT32. http://p.sf.net/sfu/p
_______________________________________________
Nagios-users mailing list
Nagios-users at lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/nagios-users
::: Please include Nagios version, plugin version (-v) and OS when reporting any issue. 
::: Messages without supporting info will risk being sent to /dev/null