Tracking several open data connections is difficult with a large number of connections. Checking for timeouts in software uses valuable processor resources. Employing a co-processor dedicated to checking timeouts uses valuable logic resources and consumes extra space. In one embodiment, a finite state machine implemented in hardware increases the speed connections can be checked for timeouts. The finite state machine stores a last accessed time stamp for each connection in a memory, and loops through the memory to compare each last accessed time stamp with a current time stamp of the system minus a global timeout value. In this manner, the finite state machine can efficiently find and react to timed out connections.