slow initial network connection
 

I've been having problems with a slow initial network connection with a redhat box on my home lan. trying to connect to its mysql db or trying to ssh to the box takes approx. 20 seconds. once i connect, the connection responsiveness is normal. any advice to solve the problem? there is no firewall running on that box.

I'm tempted to think this symptom is related to the portmapper.
I suggest you examine the hosts.allow file on your redhat machine.
Specifically allow your host to access ssh and mysql,
and then restart portmap and [x]inetd.

problem fixed by adding the client machine's ip to /etc/hosts on the server machine. not sure why it worked fine prior adding this entry weeks ago.