diff --git a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HThriftClient.java b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HThriftClient.java
index 492519089..290ee6cca 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HThriftClient.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HThriftClient.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package me.prettyprint.cassandra.connection;
 
+import java.net.Socket;
+import java.net.SocketException;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
 import me.prettyprint.cassandra.service.CassandraHost;
@@ -103,11 +105,20 @@ HThriftClient open() {
       log.debug("Creating a new thrift connection to {}", cassandraHost);
     }
 
+    TSocket socket = new TSocket(cassandraHost.getHost(), cassandraHost.getPort(), timeout);
+    if ( cassandraHost.getUseSocketKeepalive() ) {
+      try {
+        socket.getSocket().setKeepAlive(true);
+      } catch (SocketException se) {
+        throw new HectorTransportException("Could not set SO_KEEPALIVE on socket: ", se);
+      }
+    }
     if (cassandraHost.getUseThriftFramedTransport()) {
-      transport = new TFramedTransport(new TSocket(cassandraHost.getHost(), cassandraHost.getPort(), timeout));
+      transport = new TFramedTransport(socket);
     } else {
-      transport = new TSocket(cassandraHost.getHost(), cassandraHost.getPort(), timeout);
+      transport = socket;
     }
+    
     try {
       transport.open();
     } catch (TTransportException e) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHost.java b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHost.java
index 93bd0c22d..e03e7144f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHost.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHost.java
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ public final class CassandraHost {
   private int cassandraThriftSocketTimeout;
   private ExhaustedPolicy exhaustedPolicy = ExhaustedPolicy.WHEN_EXHAUSTED_BLOCK;
   private boolean useThriftFramedTransport = DEFAULT_USE_FRAMED_THRIFT_TRANSPORT;
+  private boolean useSocketKeepalive;
   //TODO(ran): private FailoverPolicy failoverPolicy = DEFAULT_FAILOVER_POLICY;
 
   public CassandraHost(String url) {
@@ -225,4 +226,13 @@ public void setTimeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis(long timeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis)
     this.timeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis = timeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis;
   }
 
+  public boolean getUseSocketKeepalive() {
+    return useSocketKeepalive;
+  }
+
+  public void setUseSocketKeepalive(boolean useSocketKeepalive) {
+    this.useSocketKeepalive = useSocketKeepalive;
+  }
+
+  
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHostConfigurator.java b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHostConfigurator.java
index 0156c9dfd..d4627e8d0 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHostConfigurator.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/service/CassandraHostConfigurator.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ public final class CassandraHostConfigurator implements Serializable {
   private int hostTimeoutUnsuspendCheckDelay = HostTimeoutTracker.DEF_NODE_UNSUSPEND_CHECK_DELAY_IN_SECONDS;
   private boolean useHostTimeoutTracker = false;
   private boolean runAutoDiscoveryAtStartup = false;
+  private boolean useSocketKeepalive = false;
 
   public CassandraHostConfigurator() {
     this.hosts = null;
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ public void applyConfig(CassandraHost cassandraHost) {
     cassandraHost.setTimeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis(timeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis);
     cassandraHost.setMaxWaitTimeWhenExhausted(maxWaitTimeWhenExhausted);
     cassandraHost.setUseThriftFramedTransport(useThriftFramedTransport);
+    cassandraHost.setUseSocketKeepalive(useSocketKeepalive);
 
     // this is special as it can be passed in as a system property
     if (cassandraThriftSocketTimeout > 0) {
@@ -289,6 +291,18 @@ public void setRunAutoDiscoveryAtStartup(boolean runAutoDiscoveryAtStartup) {
     this.runAutoDiscoveryAtStartup = runAutoDiscoveryAtStartup;
   }
 
+  public boolean getUseSocketKeepalive() {
+    return useSocketKeepalive;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Enable SO_KEEPALIVE on the underlying socket. OFF by default (per java.net.Socket) 
+   * 
+   */
+  public void setUseSocketKeepalive(boolean useSocketKeepalive) {
+    this.useSocketKeepalive = useSocketKeepalive;
+  }
+
   
 
 }