>there are command line tools in NT etc which allow you to check this sort of
>thing but ws_ping pro (freeware utility) will allow you to scan the ports at
>a given ip address and check whether the server is there and running. i tend
>to use this so i can independently verify the network setup so as not to
>confuse client application config problems with underlying network issues.

Yes, but if you point it to the server, and the connection is refused, how
would it know if the server is refusing it itself, or if something else is
blocking it before it even gets to the server?

-Joe