function ping_host
{
HOST=$1 # Grab the host to ping from ARG1.
PING_COUNT=3
PACKET_SIZE=54

# 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 Operating System - $(uname)"
           echo "\n\t. . .EXITING. . .\n"
           exit 1
esac
}