my $connected;
for (my $tries = 1; $tries < 4; $tries++) { 
  print "Attempt $tries to connect\n";    
  $connected = &xferOpen ('SESSION', $clusterHost,"compression", "yes", @sshPort);
  last if $connected;
} 
return $connected ? $success : &error("couldn't connect to $clusterHost : $xferError");