Does the socket implementation suport only 2 simultaneous connections?

Question

Hi all,
I implemented this server the traditional way:
public void run() {
   while(state.isRunning()) {
      try {
         System.out.println("listening...");
         sourceSock = ssock.accept();
         System.out.println("new incoming connection");
         sourceSock.setSoTimeout(config.getHttpTimeout());
         new Thread(new ProxyHttpConnectionWorker(sourceSock, config)).start();
      } catch (IOException _ex) {
         config.out.trace(_ex.getMessage());
}It seems ok to me. I implemented it several times in a lot of situations.
However, this time I noted that after two simultaneous socket connections are opened (via accept()), all other connections I try to make from a client are blocking until one of the first two sockets close().
I mean, it seems to be blocking the incoming connections in the accept() method, because the string "listening..." was printed, but the string "new incoming connection" is only printed when one of the two initial sockets close()
Why is this happening? Is this correct?
I implemented it with J2SE 1.3.1 in a windows NT 4 workstation machine.
Is this an Operating System problem? A TCP/IP problem? Is the problem in the java socket implementation? Is there any flaw in my code?
Thank you all in advance,
Filipe Fedalto

Answer 1

Hi, Chuck
It could also be the case.
Actually, I am implementing a proxy server. All the major work is done and were it not this accept() problem it would be functioning very well.
The server is running in my machine and I am testing it by issuing 4 simultaneous HTTP requests from Internet Explorer 5.5 from my own machine itself. So, you see, this could be the problem, according to what you've just said.
I try to open the 4 browser connections simultaneously, but the servers' accept() method only seems to receive 2 of them at a time.
What do you think about it?
Just in case, I will try and test it using Netscape. Let's see if the number of simultaneous connections change...
Notwithstanding, why do the browsers limit the number of concurrent connections? I might think that this is because it is better to open a single page or two faster than trying to open 5 or 6 pages slowly... is this the point?
Thank you very much!
Filipe Fedalto