Does imp have access to any network tools, e.g. ping, or do these have to implemented in Squirrel?
No; the imp talks only to the server over a secure channel. In terms of squirrel being able to establish network connectivity, right now if squirrel is running, the connection is up.
When we implement modes where you can turn the wifi off, you’ll be able to determine the connection state programmatically and alter behavior as necessary (eg: buffer data if the server can’t be contacted).
I was more thinking of pinging local servers and displaying their status with LEDs, everything wrapped up in one box that can be easily relocated if needs be.
Not possible like that I’m afraid. You could build a real status monitor that called into (eg) BinaryCanary’s API and displayed internet-accessible server status from anywhere in the world, though.
Our office has some (empty) server racks left by the previous occupants; I’d like to make some imp-enabled rack-mount “virtual servers” that were covered in blinking lights and displayed the status of our EC2 instances - maybe even with fan noise proportional to their load average 