"Ping" and "traceroute" are two common commands that can be executed to determine information about a hostname or IP address (like the IP address of your VPS). Ping will tell you if a server is online and responding, as well as the speed (latency) of the response:
1. Open a shell, either by logging into your VPS with SSH or by using a program like Terminal or, for Windows, Putty.
2. Type the following, replacing 127.0.0.1 with the destination IP (or domain name):
# ping 127.0.0.1
A traceroute, appropriately, traces the route taken from your local machine (wherever the traceroute is executed from) to the destination host:
# traceroute 127.0.0.1
