Knowledgebase

Server Timeout Error Message when publishing with FrontPage

A "Server Timeout" message while publishing suggests that your computer has lost its connection with the web server before the upload of your file or files are complete. There are several possible reasons why your connection may get timed-out while publishing:

Proxy Server or Firewall
Your ISP or corporate network may use a proxy server or firewall.  Data sent and received from your computer passes through this proxy server.  Many proxy servers send network requests from dynamically assigned IP addresses taken from a pool of available IPs assigned to that server.  Your connection with the web server is established based on the IP address from which you initially established your FrontPage publishing session.  If that IP address fluctuates, the web server may assume that you are no longer connected and end your session.  AOL is one such Internet provider that employs proxy servers which may occasionally interfere with the upload of larger files or webs.

Publishing large files and/or slow modem connection
Web servers enforce a time-out period on any process in order to protect the server from being overloaded. This time-out period varies, and applies to both the remote web server and the personal web server used by FrontPage on a user's local PC.   During the publishing process, either the local PC or remote web server may exceed its timeout period and end the session before the transfer is complete.  This can occur when a slower modem connection is used, or if the size of the Web or web files to be transferred is large.

Since both connection speed and file size are factors, there is no pre-determined file size that is too large to publish.  Some users encounter problems uploading files over 50K in size, while other users can publish a file over 5 megs in size without difficulty.  See the following Microsoft KB article for further information:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q194/2/74.ASP

Workarounds

1.     Check your proxy server settings to make sure they are properly configured for your type of Internet connection.  Refer to the following Microsoft KB articles for further information:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q265/0/44.ASP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q191/6/48.ASP

 

2.     Open your web site on the remote server and use the FrontPage import feature to copy the files to the server.

To import a file, open your web site on the remote Internet server, then choose the FILE->IMPORT option in FrontPage.  Next, select the desired file on your local PC to be copied to the server and click OK.  

3.     Use FTP to upload very large files.  The FTP protocol is not subject to the same time-out limitations as http publishing.
 

4.     Try publishing the files from a PC with a faster modem or Internet connection.
 

Change your FrontPage publishing options to only upload files that have changed since you last published your site.  This will shorten the publishing session by avoiding the unnecessary upload of files that have not changed.