Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!udel!udccvax1!brahms.udel.edu!ron
From: ron@brahms.udel.edu (Ron Reisor)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.proteon
Subject: Re: Restart/Reload connection loss
Message-ID: <14032@brahms.udel.edu>
Date: 25 Sep 90 14:51:41 GMT
References: <13982@brahms.udel.edu>
Organization: University of Delaware
Lines: 27

In article <13982@brahms.udel.edu> romanell@brahms.udel.edu (Richard Romanelli) writes:
>
>For the most part, reloads, even with the new ROMs, do no affect connections.
>Some connections have dropped in the past, however, when we reload a
>router.  Certainly the network software being run on individual hosts will
>affect the robust-ness of the connection.  When does a P4200 determine that
>a host/net is unreachable?  Should we reload only after everyone on the
>net has been notified?
>

It's not clear that reloads do not affect tcp connections.  Certainly if
there's a problem that shows up during the reload, and minutes instead
of seconds of router down time is experienced, then tcp connections are
likely to be broken.  I have noticed tcp connections die for no apparent
reason--this tends to happen only when the connections go off subnet 13.

You will build more confidence in the network if you notify everyone, at
lease through this news group, whenever you restart or reload a router.
That way, if there are no problems caused, people read the notification
and think "it really doesn't cause any problems".  But, if the restart
does cause problems we would at least have a chance of relating the
problem to the restart.

I think it's too much to notify everyone before the reload, but you
should document, at least in this news group, every reload.

Ron