RequestTimeouts

RequestTimeouts refer to configured limits on how long a request may take to complete in a networked system. They are used to prevent resource exhaustion, maintain responsiveness, and fail fast when components are slow or unresponsive. Timeouts can apply at multiple layers and for different stages of a request, including the client, the server, and intermediaries such as proxies and load balancers.

In client software, common timeout categories include connect timeouts, which cap the time to establish a TCP connection; read or response timeouts, which limit the time to receive data after the request is sent; and total or overall timeouts, which cap the entire duration of the operation. Different libraries and languages implement these concepts with varying configuration options, such as separate connect and read timeouts in HTTP clients or a single combined timeout.

In server-side components and network infrastructure, timeouts may govern processing time for a request, idle time for kept-alive connections, and gateway or proxy timeouts that cap upstream response times. Load balancers and reverse proxies often expose their own timeout settings, which can influence end-to-end latency and error handling.

Practical use of RequestTimeouts involves balancing latency against reliability. Values tend to be context-specific, with shorter timeouts reducing wasteful delays but potentially increasing transient failures, and longer timeouts improving completeness at the cost of stalled resources. Common strategies include retry with backoff, ensuring idempotency for repeatable requests, and distinguishing between timeouts and other error conditions to trigger appropriate fallback behavior.