Hi again and sorry that I forgot to mention this in my previous mail but the method append(E event) in SocketAppenderBase forgets to close the output-stream in case of an error. } catch (IOException e) { oos = null; [..] should be replaced with } catch (IOException e) { if(oos!=null) { try { oos.close() } catch(IOException ex) { //ignore } oos = null; } [..] I'm currently working on a proper log-viewer as a Chainsaw-replacement and it has hanging connections in case of a server restart. I suspect that this is the reason... I'd be happy to send you a preview of the app, btw. The only problem, currently, is that I'm infringing the GPL myself ;) since I'm not ready for a source release yet (mainly because parts of the app will be LGPL and the app itself GPL).but the GPL-license-dialog is already in place :) So if you'd like to see a preview just send me a short mail to contact [at] lumberjack.huxhorn.de. As you might have guessed by domain-name, I plan to call the viewer LOGBack Lumberjack... Joern.