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The TCP/IP Guide  9  TCP/IP Lower-Layer (Interface, Internet and Transport) Protocols (OSI Layers 2, 3 and 4)       9  TCP/IP Transport Layer Protocols            9  Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)                 9  TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)                      9  TCP Basic Operation: Connection Establishment, Management and Termination

TCP Connection Management and Problem Handling, the Connection Reset Function, and TCP "Keepalives" 1 2 3 4 TCP Message Formatting and Data Transfer

The TIME-WAIT State

The device receiving the initial FIN may have to wait a fairly long time (in networking terms) in the CLOSE-WAIT state for the application it is serving to indicate that it is ready to shut down. TCP cannot make any assumptions about how long this will take. During this period of time, the server in our example above may continue sending data, and the client will receive it. However, the client will not send data to the server.

Eventually, the second device (the server in our example) will send a FIN to close its end of the connection. The device that originally initiated the close (the client above) will send an ACK for this FIN. However, the client cannot immediately go to the CLOSED state right after sending that ACK. The reason is that it must allow time for the ACK to travel to the server. Normally this will be quick, but delays might result in it being slowed down somewhat.

The TIME-WAIT state is required for two main reasons. The first is to provide enough time to ensure that the ACK is received by the other device, and to retransmit it if it is lost. The second is to provide a “buffering period” between the end of this connection and any subsequent ones. If not for this period, it is possible that packets from different connections could be mixed, creating confusion.

The standard specifies that the client should wait double a particular length of time called the maximum segment lifetime (MSL) before finishing the close of the connection. The TCP standard defines MSL as being a value of 120 seconds (2 minutes). In modern networks this is an eternity, so TCP allows implementations to choose a lower value if it is believed that will lead to better operation.

TCP Connection Management and Problem Handling, the Connection Reset Function, and TCP "Keepalives" 1 2 3 4 TCP Message Formatting and Data Transfer