Network Location

Hey,

I am writing a backup program for my network that will run on startup, and copy files from one pc to a location on the server pc.

Before i copy the files though i need to see if the server is presently connected to the network or if it is simply turned off.

So baically i need help on finding out if a pc is connected to the network, i would like to find out by using its network name in this case 'h-server'. Or if i cant do this then i can use its IP. I did think about using ping from my prog and seeing what the output was but i thought this would be taking the long way round...

Thanks for any help,
TNT

The only way I know of to see if a host is online is to use ping.
If the host is down you could set your program to ping the host at intervals to perform whatever its backup routines as soon as the host is visible.
sry I couldn't be anymore help

Can you use gethostbyname() or gethostbyaddr() and look for a NULL return?