if( !$send_socket )
    {
        # Create socket
        $socket_errmsg = "";
        $send_socket =
        IO::Socket::INET->new( PeerAddr => $server_ip,
                               PeerPort => $server_port,
                               Proto    => "tcp",
                               Timeout  => $cfg::params{'CONNECT_TIMEOUT'}
                             )
                    or $socket_errmsg = "Couldn't create socket to ".
                                        "$server_ip port $server_port: $@";

    }