Maximum segment lifetime is the time a TCP segment can exist in the internetwork system. It is arbitrarily defined to be 2 minutes long.
The Maximum Segment Lifetime value is used to determine the TIME_WAIT interval (2*MSL)
The command that can be used to many Unix systems determine the TIME_WAIT interval is:
ndd -get /dev/tcp tcp_time_wait_interval60000 (60 seconds) is a common value.
On most linux systems, this value can be checked by the command below:
sysctl net.ipv4.tcp_fin_timeoutOr simply view the file in /proc:
cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_fin_timeoutFamous quotes containing the words maximum and/or lifetime:
“Probably the only place where a man can feel really secure is in a maximum security prison, except for the imminent threat of release.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“The individual, the great artist when he comes, uses everything that has been discovered or known about his art up to that point, being able to accept or reject in a time so short it seems that the knowledge was born with him, rather than that he takes instantly what it takes the ordinary man a lifetime to know, and then the great artist goes beyond what has been done or known and makes something of his own.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)