Question regarding limit on the number of sockets?

[Thomas Schenk <tschenk@origin.ea.com>]

I apologize if this is a FAQ, but I have not been able to find the
answer to a question that was asked of me.  According to the person who
asked, there is a limit on the number of sockets that can be open at a
given time.  The person stated that this limit was 1024.  My questions
are:

1.  Is this a per process limit, a per user limit, or a system wide
limit?
2.  Does this limit apply to both the 2.2.x and 2.4.x kernels?
3.  Is this limit tunable (either by patching the kernel or otherwise)?

I wouldn't bother asking here, but I need an answer quickly for my boss
and thus far, my searching has not turned up the answer.

Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide me.

Tom Schenk
Online Operations
EA.COM

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