Simple Pinger w/ SQL Server Compact — Step-by-Step Tutorial

Simple Pinger with SQL Server Compact: Quick Setup Guide

Date: February 4, 2026

This guide shows a minimal, practical way to build a simple network pinger that records results into SQL Server Compact (SQL CE). It includes the project structure, code examples (C#), and steps to create the database, run ICMP pings, and store results. Assumes .NET (Framework or .NET Core/5+) and SQL Server Compact 4.0 (or compatible) are available.

What you’ll build

A small console app that:

Sends an ICMP ping to a list of hosts.
Records timestamp, host, round-trip time (ms), and success/failure into a SQL Server Compact database.
Can be run manually or scheduled.

Prerequisites

Windows (SQL Server Compact is Windows-focused).
.NET SDK (Framework 4.6.1+ or .NET ⁄₇).
SQL Server Compact 4.0 x86/x64 installed or the local DLLs included.
Visual Studio or a code editor.

Project setup

Create a new Console App (C#).
Add references:
- System.Data.SqlServerCe (if using installed SQL CE) or include SQL Server Compact runtime DLLs.
- System.Net.NetworkInformation (for Ping).
Create a folder for database file (e.g., AppData) and plan for file name: PingResults.sdf.

Database: create table

Use the following SQL to create the table (run via SQL CE tool or programmatically):

CREATE TABLE PingResults ( Id INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, Host NVARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, Timestamp DATETIME NOT NULL, Success BIT NOT NULL, RoundTripMs INT NULL, ErrorMessage NVARCHAR(1000) NULL );

(If running programmatically, see example below.)

Connection string

Use a file-based connection string pointing to the .sdf file:

Data Source=|DataDirectory|\PingResults.sdf; Persist Security Info=False;

If the database file doesn’t exist, create it programmatically using SqlCeEngine.

Code: simple pinger (C#)

csharp
using System; using System.Data; using System.Data.SqlServerCe; using System.Net.NetworkInformation; using System.IO; class SimplePinger { static string DbPath = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, “App_Data”, “PingResults.sdf”); static string ConnStr = \("Data Source={DbPath}; Persist Security Info=False;"; static void Main() { Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(DbPath)); EnsureDatabase(); var hosts = new[] { "8.8.8.8", "1.1.1.1", "example.com" }; foreach (var host in hosts) { var result = PingHost(host); SaveResult(result); Console.WriteLine(\)“{result.Timestamp:u} {host} {(result.Success ? \("OK {result.RoundTrip} ms" : \)“FAIL: {result.Error}”)}“); } } static void EnsureDatabase() { if (!File.Exists(DbPath)) { var engine = new SqlCeEngine(ConnStr); engine.CreateDatabase(); using (var conn = new SqlCeConnection(ConnStr)) { conn.Open(); using (var cmd = conn.CreateCommand()) { cmd.CommandText = @” CREATE TABLE PingResults ( Id INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, Host NVARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, Timestamp DATETIME NOT NULL, Success BIT NOT NULL, RoundTripMs INT NULL, ErrorMessage NVARCHAR(1000) NULL )”; cmd.ExecuteNonQuery(); } } } } class PingResult { public string Host; public DateTime Timestamp; public bool Success; public int? RoundTrip; public string Error; } static PingResult PingHost(string host) { var pr = new PingResult { Host = host, Timestamp = DateTime.UtcNow }; try { using (var p = new Ping()) { var reply = p.Send(host, 2000); if (reply.Status == IPStatus.Success) { pr.Success = true; pr.RoundTrip = (int)reply.RoundtripTime; } else { pr.Success = false; pr.Error = reply.Status.ToString(); } } } catch (Exception ex) { pr.Success = false; pr.Error = ex.Message; } return pr; } static void SaveResult(PingResult r) { using (var conn = new SqlCeConnection(ConnStr)) { conn.Open(); using (var cmd = conn.CreateCommand()) { cmd.CommandText = @” INSERT INTO PingResults (Host, Timestamp, Success, RoundTripMs, ErrorMessage) VALUES (@host, @ts, @succ, @rtt, @err)”; cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(”@host”, r.Host); cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(”@ts”, r.Timestamp); cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(”@succ”, r.Success); cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(”@rtt”, (object)r.RoundTrip ?? DBNull.Value); cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(”@err”, (object)r.Error ?? DBNull.Value); cmd.ExecuteNonQuery(); } } } }

Scheduling

Use Windows Task Scheduler to run the compiled exe at intervals.

Optionally add logging or rotate the .sdf file after it reaches a size threshold.

Tips and caveats

SQL CE is file-based and not suited for very high write rates or concurrent writers.

Use UTC timestamps for consistency.

Use small timeouts and consider parallelization with care (avoid many simultaneous writes).

For cross-platform or heavier workloads, consider SQLite or a server-based SQL engine.

That’s it — a minimal, working pinger that logs to SQL Server Compact. Adjust hosts, intervals, and error handling for your needs.

Simple Pinger w/ SQL Server Compact — Step-by-Step Tutorial

Simple Pinger with SQL Server Compact: Quick Setup Guide

What you’ll build

Prerequisites

Project setup

Database: create table

Connection string

Code: simple pinger (C#)

Scheduling

Tips and caveats

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