How to send file packets in ordered sequence to client

[proper]

Dear friends,

I have a problem with a network device.
The problem is that this device, when downloading files, *must* receive
the data packets from http server *ordered*.

When you have a transmission between server and PC client, the
transmission works this way:

client asks for packet 1 - server sends packet 1
client asks for packet 2 - server sends packet 2
client asks for packet 3 - (transmission error)
client asks for packet 4 - server sends packet 4
---> server sends packet 3, previously lost <---
client asks for packet 5 - server sends packet 5
...

Using my network device I *should* wait for packet lost, because it
needs to receive the transmission packets *in order*, so:

client asks for packet 1 - server sends packet 1
client asks for packet 2 - server sends packet 2
client asks for packet 3 - (error)
---> NO PACKET IS SENT FROM SERVER UNTIL packet 3 ACK IS RECEIVED <---
---> server sends packet 3, previously lost <---
client asks for packet 4 - server sends packet 4
...

Is it possible to do this using some Apache module or configuration
directives ?.

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

[jdMorgan]

This is a function of the TCP/IP protocol stack, not of Apache. You can either modify the protocol stack (if you know how -- I certainly don't), or get rid of the device that requires ordered packets (in direct contradiction to the way TCP/IP is supposed to work).

Between hiring a protocol specialist to write you a new protocol stack and replacing this defectively-designed hardware, I'd say the latter will be cheaper by several thousands or tens of thousands of dollars...

I dunno, there might be a tweak exposed in the network drive that allows you to set the "unacknowledged packet threshold" to "1", but this is really getting into the nitty-gritty of OS/driver hacking.

Jim