Quick host alive check

In an online submission for a quote we've had intermittent errors if the
mysql server goes down. This errors cause prices to display at £0.00

What's the best way to check the host is alive before the rest of the
code runs?

"john henry bonham" <with@he.ld> wrote in message
news:4174e983$0$94917$5a6aecb4@news.aaisp.net.uk.. .
> In an online submission for a quote we've had intermittent errors if the
> mysql server goes down. This errors cause prices to display at £0.00
>
> What's the best way to check the host is alive before the rest of the
> code runs?

I've often seen the suggestion to issue the query "select 1".

However, such a technique won't do you any good if the server goes down
right after than.

Nothing will beat basic error checking after each attempted database access,
coupled with appropriate error handling.

- virgil