Technical question re IMAP listener & WinSock Connection...

[philiporchard]

I've been chatting with my lead developer about an issue we have regarding a new bit of software.
I've asked him about the issue, and here is the technical info:

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The email component connects to GMail via an IMAP listener. This is a mail handling protocol that runs over TCP/IP. The Windows Server opens a WinSock connection to the mail server over port 993 using a TLS encryption algo. The problem is that the TCP/IP connection seems to get closed/dropped after about 10 mins. If I restart the listener component then it works again for another 10 mins etc. I'm using the AE.MAIL.NET IMAP library for the C# code.

I've added some code that reopens the IMAP connection every 5 mins but that still doesn't solve it. It's a real puzzler.

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If anyone thinks they might know what is going on, then, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Happy to pay for quality advice that helps resolve the issue.
Thanks, Phil

 

[RobM]

It sounds like you need to implement a 'keep alive' timer. I assume there's a communication protocol you can call every few mins.

 

[RobM]

Also it may be the client that is dropping connection. eg when using SSH you need to specify a keep alive on the server end *and* the client end. Can you not just send a 'dummy' command (eg inbox.getmessage) every few mins?

 

[philiporchard]

Thanks Rob. I'll pass these comments on. Much appreciated.

 

[martin-s]

Generally not a good idea to keep a persistent connection if you don't need to. It might be better to poll once a minute instead?

 

[Skinner]

I'd say the sockets timing out as its idle, you need to shoot a command every few minutes to keep it alive. There may also be a keep-alive time out somewhere. Many software settings are set at 600 seconds, which ties in with your 10 minutes..