Thank you for the reply,

I tried connecting to 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost.

same behavior.

also, I am not running out of sockets, netstat shows only
about ~1200 sockets in various states, and I believe the limit is
around ~4000.

I will try to use a separate machine for Firebird, but if this
is what it takes, its a shame, because It makes deployment harder.

This is sort of a "shrink-wrapped" product. And for now I have
to stick to Windows (I have no choice).

any other ideas?

thanks,

stan