# Term for data packet other than "keepalive" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684 "2022-05-19T13:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/41 "2022-05-20T13:46:19Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > All the heartbeat message does is say that the tag still exists. Hey, a packet’s a packet no matter how small… ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/42 "2022-05-20T13:57:32Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > My company has been calling it a heartbeat, but the medical providers using our products don’t like this term since it’s too easy to confuse with a patient’s status. (One does not want a maintenance tech saying “I can’t find a heartbeat” when referring to a patient tag.) It’s industry standard to use metaphorical language of life and death for computing systems. Heartbeat, keepalive. There is also “healthcheck” but this customer sounds stupid enough to object to that also. In this case I might try “connectivity poll”. But frankly, I think I would fire a customer with such ridiculous constraints. Frankly this sounds like a severe case of [the bike-shed effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality) in decision-making. What do they think is going to happen, an IT technician will say “this router hasn’t sent a heartbeat in 4 hours” and a physician says “okay, I don’t know this guy, and he’s not dressed like a healthcare provider, and that seems like a dangerously long time to be in cardiac arrest, but I’m just going to react to this vague decontextualized information from a complete stranger and zap Mr. Router with the shock paddles.” ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/43 "2022-05-20T14:10:46Z")
Even runt packets. > **[What are Network Packets and How Do They Work?](https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/packet)** > > Learn what network packets are and why they're used, as well as the different parts of a network packet. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/44 "2022-05-20T14:26:34Z")
Most of the people around the tags are going to be nurses. Many don’t have the technical background to understand that tech often adopts terms from healthcare. Even if they did, they’re in a high-pressure medical environment and phrases like “no heartbeat” are trigger words to action for them. Not something you can afford to dither about, y’know? ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/45 "2022-05-20T14:53:47Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > phrases like “no heartbeat” are trigger words to action for them. So perhaps saying “it has stopping going ping” isn’t a good idea either 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/46 "2022-05-20T15:42:38Z")
No ping? No ping, Vasily. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/47 "2022-05-20T18:07:23Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Even if they did, they’re in a high-pressure medical environment and phrases like “no heartbeat” are trigger words to action for them. Not something you can afford to dither about, y’know? If one is in an operating room then _maybe_ I could see this. But the IT tech isn’t going to be in the operating room. And they’re suggesting that a nurse would react to a command from a random stranger who isn’t wearing scrubs or a lab coat? I mean, please walk me through the process that might lead to dithering here. Because I have worked in a medical treatment facility before, and I’ve never heard anyone suggest that a medical professional might get confused by a random person saying a “special” word. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/48 "2022-05-20T21:52:50Z")
Mostly I’m just speculating on how it could be an issue at all. I’ve never worked in a medical facility of any sort. All I know is that the hospitals really, really, _REALLY_ don’t like using terminology from the medical field to describe something that isn’t. And since they’re our major source of revenue, we find another way of saying something. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/49 "2022-05-21T02:26:56Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > In our system if we don’t “kick” the watchdog timer in X seconds, the device will get rebooted. Wow, you guys are mean. We “pet” our watchdog. If you don’t pet the dog, the dog bites you (reboots). Kicking a dog is just cruel. FWIW, our watchdog task is named “woof”. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/50 "2022-05-21T02:52:27Z")
Make up some word that doesn’t have a ready homophone, spell it in all caps to suggest an acronym, and never explain what it stands for. “FERDD Mark.” Thereyago. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/51 "2022-05-21T03:13:50Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > spell it in all caps to suggest an acronym, Perfect. Once you tell us how to pronounce it in all caps. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/52 "2022-05-21T06:54:07Z")
Easy. Raise it an octave, and try to pronounce it like the Swedish Chef is saying it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/53 "2022-05-21T07:44:09Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Mostly I’m just speculating on how it could be an issue at all. I’ve never worked in a medical facility of any sort. > > All I know is that the hospitals really, really, _REALLY_ don’t like using terminology from the medical field to describe something that isn’t. And since they’re our major source of revenue, we find another way of saying something. There is a bit of a tendency for academics and professionals to get uppity about (what they consider to be) their terminology being appropriated for other purposes. I recall an argument, from a biologist, about how the term ‘ecosystem’ shouldn’t ever be used in computing - even though it’s a pretty apt analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/54 "2022-05-21T09:03:56Z")
As I understand it, in hospitals they are very familiar with machines that go “ping” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/55 "2022-05-21T09:07:38Z")
Cooee is usually a distress call. Amongst keen Australian hikers “Hey Bob!” is the better term for merely communicating presence without indicating distress. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/56 "2022-05-23T16:16:24Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Wow, you guys are mean. > > We “pet” our watchdog. If you don’t pet the dog, the dog bites you (reboots). > Kicking a dog is just cruel. > > FWIW, our watchdog task is named “woof”. To be fair, we don’t kick the dog, we kick the dog’s timer, which wakes the dog up. So by kicking the timer, we let the puppy sleep a little longer ---
**Author:** ![Beesnest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@Beesnest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beesnest)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/57 "2022-05-23T16:39:45Z")
Would hiccup still be too medical. ? That’s what came to my mind for a recurring beep. Or Clippit (remember the annoying but kinda sweet paperclip) Or Bueller a word now in urban dictionary meaning waiting for a response. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/58 "2022-05-23T17:04:39Z")
There’s always ACK, but that implies the device is waiting for a response, which it isn’t doing. The signal is strictly one-way. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/59 "2022-06-10T20:01:16Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > There’s always ACK, but that implies the device is waiting for a response, which it isn’t doing. No, that won’t do at all. ACK sounds like a person gagging or choking, and this medical staff sounds as if they’d find that very confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2022, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/60 "2022-06-14T07:02:34Z")
How about its “presence” packet ? The info is “I am here” right ? So these packets will keep track of the presence of the device… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684.md?page=2)