*Check that the TCP Port we've decided to use for tunnelling is available*

def _checkServer(self, address, port):
        """
        *Check that the TCP Port we've decided to use for tunnelling is available*
        """
        # CREATE A TCP SOCKET
        import socket
        s = socket.socket()

        try:
            s.connect((address, port))
            return True
        except socket.error, e:
            self.log.warning(
                """Connection to `%(address)s` on port `%(port)s` failed - try again: %(e)s""" % locals())
            return False

        return None