[javascript] Is it possible to ping a server from Javascript?

You can run the DOS ping.exe command from javaScript using the folowing:

function ping(ip)
{
    var input = "";
    var WshShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
    var oExec = WshShell.Exec("c:/windows/system32/ping.exe " + ip);

    while (!oExec.StdOut.AtEndOfStream)
    {
            input += oExec.StdOut.ReadLine() + "<br />";
    }
    return input;
}

Is this what was asked for, or am i missing something?