geode-docs/managing/monitor_tune/disabling_tcp_syn_cookies.html.md.erb

---
title:  Disable TCP SYN Cookies
---

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Most default Linux installations use SYN cookies to protect the 
system against malicious attacks (such as DDOS) that flood TCP SYN packets.

This feature is not compatible with stable and busy <%=vars.product_name%> clusters. SYN Cookies protection gets
incorrectly activated by normal <%=vars.product_name%> traffic, severely limiting bandwidth and new connection
rates, and destroying SLAs. Security implementations should instead seek to prevent DDOS types of
attacks by placing <%=vars.product_name%> server clusters behind advanced firewall protection.

To disable SYN cookies permanently:

1. Edit the `/etc/sysctl.conf` file to include the following line:

    ``` pre
    net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 0
    ```
    Setting this value to zero disables SYN cookies.
2. Reload `sysctl.conf`:

    ``` pre
    sysctl -p
    ```