What command would you use to test the reachability of an IP address on a network?

The command that tests the reachability of an IP address on a network is "ping." This utility sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request packets to the specified IP address and waits for a response. If the host at that IP address is reachable, it will respond with echo reply packets. This allows the user to determine not only whether the IP address is reachable but also to measure the round-trip time for packets sent from the source to the destination and back. This is essential for diagnosing network connectivity issues.

Other choices serve different purposes: "ipconfig" displays the network configuration settings of the local machine, providing information such as IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway, but does not test connection. "tracert" (or "traceroute" on Linux) traces the route that packets take to a network host, providing information about the path taken but not directly testing if an IP address is reachable. "netstat" provides statistics about network connections, routing tables, and interface statistics, which is useful for understanding network traffic but does not test reachability by itself. Therefore, "ping" is the most appropriate command for testing reachability.