After earthquake INGV site down - 5 April 2009

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s and related engineering (including computer networking and programming), the term timeout or time-out has several meanings, including: * A network parameter related to an enforced event designed to occur at the conclusion of a predetermined elapsed

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

. * A specified period of time that will be allowed to elapse in a

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...

before a specified event is to take place, unless another specified event occurs first; in either case, the period is terminated when either event takes place. Note: A timeout condition can be canceled by the receipt of an appropriate time-out cancellation

signal A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

. * An event that occurs at the end of a predetermined period of time that began at the occurrence of another specified event. The timeout can be prevented by an appropriate signal. Timeouts allow for more efficient usage of limited resources without requiring additional interaction from the agent interested in the goods that cause the consumption of these resources. The basic idea is that in situations where a system must wait for something to happen, rather than waiting indefinitely, the waiting will be aborted after the timeout period has elapsed. This is based on the assumption that further waiting is useless, and some other action is necessary.

Challenges

Balancing timeout values in distributed systems and microservices can be tricky: short timeout values can fail healthy requests prematurely, leading to complex workarounds, while long timeout values can result in slow error responses and poor user experiences. The circuit breaker design pattern can be a better alternative, as it can monitor service health, detect failures dynamically and faster, and improve the user experience.

Examples

Specific examples include: * In the

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

ReactOS ReactOS is a Free and open-source software, free and open-source operating system for i586/amd64 personal computers that is intended to be binary-code compatibility, binary-compatible with computer programs and device drivers developed for Wind ...

command-line interface A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via command (computing), commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user ...

s, the timeout command pauses the command processor for the specified number of seconds. * In POP connections, the server will usually close a client connection after a certain period of inactivity (the timeout period). This ensures that connections do not persist forever, if the client crashes or the network goes down. Open connections consume resources, and may prevent other clients from accessing the same mailbox. * In HTTP persistent connections, the web server saves opened connections (which consume CPU time and

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...

). The web client does not have to send an "end of requests series" signal. Connections are closed (timed out) after five minutes of inactivity; this ensures that the connections do not persist indefinitely. * In a timed light switch, both

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

and lamp's life-span are saved. The user does not have to switch off manually. *

Tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

s and

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s commonly turn off their backlight after a certain time without user input.

Challenges

Examples

See also

References

Further reading