Bruce after Niel Armstrong:
 
>> I am trying to FTP file from MPE to MPE from another location
>> halfway around the world. I consistently get the error:
>>
>> SOCKET TIMEOUT
 
[.....SNIP.....]
>The SOCKET TIMEOUT comes from FTP rather than from TCP. As far as I know,
>there's now way to get FTP to increase its timeout, so you have to get the
>protocol to try harder in the time allowed.
 
Don't know if this is quite the same problem as we were
having most of a couple years ago;  plus no time to
research history now;  but in case it's pertinent:
 
~2 years ago we were having major problems with off-
site vendors getting FTP timeouts when trying to FTP
fairly large files over the Internet to our Series 957.  At
that time we found out that while some network timing
parameters were setable, there was at least one that
was *hard coded* in FTP and could not be modified;
believe the value at that time was 60 sec.
 
And of course when the Internet was real busy, things
would sometimes freeze for like 2-3 minutes;  ergo:
SOCKET TIMEOUT.
 
Anyway, I can't remember off the top which release
incorporated the fix, but I *thought* the Lab finally either
took the hardcoded timeout completely out of FTP, or
made it a much bigger number.....  Maybe someone
from HP can remember the facts better than I can.....
At least I know our problem went away..........
 
Ken Sletten