ICMP, the Internet's best friend. Testing the paths, passing back blocked path info, or warning of packet size issues, this power-protocol get's two powerful Ninja thumbs up. Ping and traceroute are the so embedded into basic troubleshooting that often-times non-technical staff members at least know to send them along with any requests for troubleshooting. Ping and trace can be used to acquire more in-depth insight than basic reachability info.

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