Final answer:
Network connectivity for TCP connections is best assessed by analyzing TCP handshake completion rates, which directly measure the establishment and quality of the TCP connection itself.
Step-by-step explanation:
Network connectivity, especially when evaluating TCP connections, is typically assessed through a variety of metrics, rather than a single method. Here are explanations for the options provided:
- a) Through ping latency: This measures the round-trip time for a message sent from the originating host to a destination computer and back again. Ping is useful for checking the general speed of a connection, but does not directly measure TCP connection quality.
- b) By analyzing TCP handshake completion rates: The TCP handshake (SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK) is crucial for establishing a TCP connection. Monitoring the rate at which these handshakes successfully complete can be indicative of the reliability of the network connectivity. This is a direct method related to TCP performance.
- c) Through DNS resolution times: DNS resolution time is the time it takes to translate a hostname into an IP address. While important for initial access to TCP-based services, it's more about domain name system performance than the TCP connection itself.
- d) By monitoring HTTP response times: HTTP response time can indicate the responsiveness of web services built on TCP. However, this is again one step removed from the underlying TCP connectivity as it encompasses the performance of the web service as well.
In summary, while all of these methods can provide insights into different aspects of a network's performance, analyzing TCP handshake completion rates is most directly related to TCP connection quality.