Editing Berkeley sockets (section)

==Terminating sockets==
The operating system does not release the resources allocated to a socket until the socket is closed. This is especially important if the ''connect'' call fails and will be retried.

When an application closes a socket, only the interface to the socket is destroyed. It is the kernel's responsibility to destroy the socket internally. Sometimes, a socket may enter a {{mono|TIME_WAIT}} state, on the server side, for up to 4 minutes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.softlab.ntua.gr/facilities/documentation/unix/unix-socket-faq/unix-socket-faq-4.html#ss4.2 |title=terminating sockets |publisher=Softlab.ntua.gr |access-date=2012-07-26}}</ref>

On [[SVR4]] systems, use of {{code|close()}} may discard data. The use of {{code|shutdown()}} or SO_LINGER may be required on these systems to guarantee delivery of all data.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.softlab.ntua.gr/facilities/documentation/unix/unix-socket-faq/unix-socket-faq-2.html#time_wait |title=ntua.gr - Programming UNIX Sockets in C - Frequently Asked Questions: Questions regarding both Clients and Servers (TCP/SOCK_STREAM) |publisher=Softlab.ntua.gr |access-date=2012-07-26}}</ref>