Remote ping allows PE, CE, and multi-VRF CE devices in the managed MPLS environment to ping one another, and to ping VRFs, to get an indication of the customer experience, and to determine the reachability of the devices in the managed MPLS environment. Remote ping is available for Layer 3 VPNs but not Layer 2 VPNs.
The remote ping functionality relies on Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo (ping) requests, as documented in RFC 792, to verify that the managed devices can reach one another. A device will respond to an ICMP Echo request if the device is operationally up. Besides serving as an indicator of the operational status of a device, a successful remote ping verifies that the standard IP routing infrastructure is healthy.
