Ping -a and Nslookup

[Kindovic]

Hi guys,

may i know wats the difference between ping -a and nslookup? In which situation should we use ping -a instead of nslookup and vice versa? I know both can resolve IP address to hostname...

Correct me if i'm wrong

Thanks

[IcemanND]

Ping sends a request to the client for a response, which will let you know if the machine is on the network if it is configured to respond.

nslookup only queries the configured or selected DNS server for the hostname

[Kindovic]

does tat mean that ping -a does not require the dns to be alive??

[gamehead200]

does tat mean that ping -a does not require the dns to be alive??

The "ping" command depends on a DNS server to translate the hostname into an IP address.

[Kindovic]

so tat means ping -a will actually send a ping packet to the target machine while nslookup will not send any packet to the target machine as it will only query the dns?

[Guest Odi719]

so tat means ping -a will actually send a ping packet to the target machine while nslookup will not send any packet to the target machine as it will only query the dns?

You got it. ping -a sends the packet to the target machine, and the nslookup query's the dns.

[Kindovic]

icic, thanks all for ur help