I need to set up a TCP service (on a linux box) that will get something like a few hunderd connections per minute at peak load. For each connection, I do some XML processing, and possibly send a query to another nearby machine and get a respone. Seems to me that twisted should be able to handle that. But what happens when I get the occasional burst of connections, lets say tens of connections within one second? What I need is: o Every client gets a socket connection promptly, so no danger of TCP timeout. o Under medium load, clients will have to wait a bit longer for the response. o Under heavy load, some clients will get a "busy" response (defined in the protocol I am implementing) and immediate socket close. What is the best way to do that in twisted? I envision one of the following architectures: A. Just use twisted in the usual way. Watch twisted's event queue for heavy load. B. Two processes: one to dish out connections and one to queue requests and process them. C. Three processes: one to dish out connections, one to queue requests and watch for load, and one to process the requests. Which of these do I need to use to get the desired effect under load? Or is there some better way? Thanks, Yitz