03-14-2009
6,384,
2,214
Join Date: May 2005
Last Activity: 28 October 2019, 4:59 PM EDT
Location: In the leftmost byte of /dev/kmem
Posts: 6,384
Thanks Given: 143
Thanked 2,214 Times in 1,548 Posts
In principle: a TCP connection is a so-called "virtual channel", think of it like a telephone call: you ring someone, he picks up the call - until one of you ends this call you are connected. The same principle applies to TCP: a connection is initiated, established and after some time removed. You can monitor all this with the "netstat" utility.
After some time an idle connection is removed automatically to preserve resources of the network stack. How long the system waits and how it determines what comprises an "idle" connection is subject of the parameters you asked for. Most of the values are seconds or milliseconds.
There is an arcane fountain of knowledge you could tap for more information called the "man pages". In this case the man pages of "no", which explain the parameters in painstaking detail. I suggest you read a good book about TCP/IP concepts and protocol mechanics (i always suggest W. Richard Stevens "TCP/IP Illustrated" and Andrew Tanenbaums "Computer Networks") first.
I hope this helps.
bakunin