=head1 NAME

Net::Ping, pingecho - check a host for upness

=head1 SYNOPSIS

    use Net::Ping;
    print "'jimmy' is alive and kicking\n" if pingecho('jimmy', 10) ;

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This module contains routines to test for the reachability of remote hosts.
Currently the only routine implemented is pingecho(). 

pingecho() uses a TCP echo (I<NOT> an ICMP one) to determine if the
remote host is reachable. This is usually adequate to tell that a remote
host is available to rsh(1), ftp(1), or telnet(1) onto.

=head2 Parameters

=over 5

=item hostname

The remote host to check, specified either as a hostname or as an IP address.

=item timeout

The timeout in seconds. If not specified it will default to 5 seconds.

=back

=head1 WARNING

pingecho() uses alarm to implement the timeout, so don't set another alarm
while you are using it.

