ASA Database Administration Guide
  Client/Server Communications
    Troubleshooting network communications

Testing the TCP/IP protocol

The ping utility can be useful for testing that TCP/IP is installed and configured properly.

Using ping to test the IP layer 

Each IP layer has an associated address—a four-integer, period-separated number (such as 191.72.109.12). Ping takes as an argument an IP-address and attempts to send a single packet to the address.

First, determine if your own machine is configured correctly by "pinging" yourself. If your IP-address is 191.72.109.12, you would type:

ping 191.72.109.12

at the command prompt and wait to see if the packets are routed at all. If they are, the output will appear similar to the following:

c:> ping 191.72.109.12
Pinging 191.72.109.12 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 191.72.109.12: bytes=32 time<.10ms TTL=32
Reply from 191.72.109.12: bytes=32 time<.10ms TTL=32
Reply from 191.72.109.12: bytes=32 time<.10ms TTL=32
...

If this works, it means that the computer is able to route packets to itself. This is reasonable assurance that the IP layer is set up correctly. You could also ask someone else running TCP/IP for their IP address and try pinging them.

You should ensure that you can ping the computer running the database server from the client computer before proceeding.