• i agree with Sean, however, this bit of SQL will do what you ask the reults are not that cracking though.

    create proc ping_test (@host varchar(100))

    as begin

    declare

    @exec varchar(1000)

    set @exec='EXECUTE master..xp_cmdshell '+''''+'ping '+@host+''''

    exec (@exec)

    end

    ***The first step is always the hardest *******