#notify user attempting connection
writeLog( "Connecting to host : $host as user : $user" );

#open connection
eval { #timeout if no response within 120 seconds
    $SIG{ALRM} = sub {die "Net::SFTP timed out\n"};
    alarm(120);
    $sftp = Net::SFTP->new($host, user=>$u password=>$p debug=>1);
    alarm(0);
};
if ( $@ ) { #handle error opening connection
    alarm(0);
    chomp( $@ );
    writeLog( "Error: $@ trying to connect to remote $host");
    sendEmail();
    sendPage();
    die("\n");
}

alarm(0);

writeLog("Connected to host : $host as user : $user");