keepalivemeldinger

Keepalive messages, often referred to as "heartbeats," are packets of data sent between two communicating devices on a network. Their primary purpose is to confirm that a connection is still active and that the other end is responsive. When a connection is idle for a period, it might be terminated by a firewall or router due to inactivity. Keepalive messages prevent this by periodically sending a small packet, signaling that the connection is still in use.

These messages are typically sent at regular intervals, with the frequency configurable depending on the application and network environment. If a device does not receive a keepalive message within a predetermined timeout period, it can assume the connection has been lost and initiate a reconnection process. This mechanism is crucial for maintaining stable and reliable network communication, especially for long-lived connections like those used in remote access, database connections, or streaming services. Without them, intermittent network issues or idle timeouts could lead to frequent connection drops and disruptions for the end-user. The implementation and effectiveness of keepalive messages can vary across different protocols and software.