Q&A
Q&AWhat does a large TCP TIME_WAIT count mean?
TIME_WAIT is part of safe TCP teardown; verify actual ephemeral-port pressure before tuning sysctls.
Read the concise answer
TIME_WAIT helps prevent delayed packets from an old connection from contaminating a new one. A high count can be normal. Diagnose port exhaustion by checking outbound tuple reuse, NAT limits, ephemeral port range, and connection pooling. tcp_tw_reuse semantics vary by kernel and are not a universal first fix.