network security check

hello :)

If someone is using two computers with msp linked together via lan (udp) with everything running sweet. How can the operator walk away from the two screens to do another task and know instantly if one machine has gone down or the lan network has failed?

I thought perhaps a metro on the master could send bangs to the other machine which could then route them back via udp and if nothing is returned, the master machine could announce via a bleep sound to say all is not well.

is that the best way? I sometimes get false triggers with my method. i use a timer and if the bang is not returned within a set time a bleep occurs. i get false triggers sometimes when multitasking. I could raise the threshold(length of time) on the timer, but i need the notification instantly to trigger a safeguard.

I just thought there might be a more reliable and efficient way for msp to know if both machines and the network is running fine and give me a bang if they are not.

hope this makes sense ?

cheers for any help.
: )