Shyamal Prasad <shyamal.prasad@sbcglobal.net> [2002-11-09 10:34:35 -0600]: > > I'm curious to know if you are saying this based on experience with > the Linux TCP stack. A TCP stack should *never* idle you out AFAIK > (RFC793), so you got me thinking about the Linux implementation. I > hope it is not the TCP stack timing out. A TCP connection should stay > up when idle for as long as you want. Firewalls especially those running NAT will implement timers that if they do not see traffic from the internal interface within their timeout limit will clear the route from their tables. A keepalive is needed in that case to keep the firewall nat table entry active. Also, I can't say with any authority as to the root of the behavior, but my laptop I have configured to sleep if there is no activity. Therefore if I don't keep the laptop awake it sleeps and then everything times out while it is not responding. Bob
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