function ping_host
{
# This function pings a single node based on the Unix flavor
# set -x # Uncomment to debug this function
# set -n # Uncomment to check the syntax without any execution

# Look for exactly one argument, the host to ping

if (( $# != 1 ))
then
     echo "\nERROR: Incorrect number of arguments - $#"
     echo "       Expecting exactly one augument\n"
     echo "\t...EXITING...\n"
     exit 1
fi

HOST=$1 # Grab the host to ping from ARG1.

# This next case statement executes the correct ping
# command based on the Unix flavor

case $UNAME in

AIX|OpenBSD|Linux)
           ping -c${PING_COUNT} $HOST 2>/dev/null
           ;;
HP-UX)
           ping $HOST $PACKET_SIZE $PING_COUNT 2>/dev/null
           ;;
SunOS)
           ping -s $HOST $PACKET_SIZE $PING_COUNT 2>/dev/null
           ;;
*)
           echo "\nERROR: Unsupported Operatoring System - $(uname)"
           echo "\n\t...EXITING...\n"
           exit 1
           ;;
esac
}