Mel call to DR slave nodes

Hello, quick question here. Does anyone have any mel script advice /syntax for checking whether a DR node is “live”?
I find that often after a Maya crash the DR slave nodes have also crashed on other machines. I’d like very much to script up an event based slave check (probably on startup).

You can write a small wrapper around the render server on the render slaves that just restarts it if it crashes (i.e. calls vray.exe in a continuous loop).

Best regards,
Vlado

Thank you Vlado. That sounds like a superb idea (really!). The only problem is my “code” knowledge only stretches as far as rudimentary mel scripting.