title: How long can a TCP connection stay open?
body: <p>Consider such a scenario, there are <code>client-a</code> and <code>server-b</code>. <code>server-b</code> has TCP keepalive disabled. And server-b does not have any application logic to check whether a TCP connection is open. <code>client-a</code> establishes a TCP connection to <code>server-b</code>. There is no data transfer between <code>client-a</code> and <code>server-b</code> afterward. In such a case, will the server ever close the idle connection? Or the server will have the TCP connection stay open forever.</p>
  
  <p>After reading <a href="https://ask.slashdot.org/story/99/09/19/2150236/longest-open-tcp-connection" rel="noreferrer">Longest Open TCP Connection?</a>, I guess that such a TCP connection will stay open forever. Is my guess correct?</p>