No TIME_WAIT connections, why?

Question

If I have sysctl tw_reuse = 0 and tw_recycle = 0, and netstat does not report any TIME_WAIT connections, does that mean ...? These are local network connections between two servers, A → B, A has TIME_WAIT connections with B in netstat, but B - A does not.

Answer 1

Only the connection side that closes the connection can be in TIME_WAIT state, see the corresponding UNIX Socket FAQ sequence diagram .

Remember that TCP guarantees all data is transmitted, if at all possible. When you close the socket, the server goes into TIME_WAIT state, just to be really sure that all the data has passed.