Safe scanning

["Teolicy" <teolicy () mindless com>]

#include <stdthanks.h> // to Fyodor the man

Hello folks,

I've been lurking here for a while, and am on the verge of doing a pretty
big scan on a pretty big and /very/ varied net, of which I have little
control. I know that it's more than likely that this network has a few
fragile/semi-home-made stacks in it.

Alek O.K.'s recent post (subj: "Setting nmap host_timeout too low may cause
DoS on inetd (?)") kinda spooked me.

How often or likely is it that nmap would trash a host (I'm considering
low-volume, something circa a class B per night, over a month)? Does anyone
have any experience with "safetifying" nmap scans? Are there any scans that
are more dangerous than others?

I've read the manpage and most of the webpage, and I realize that there are
no guarantees. But I'm looking for real-life-experience - is "nmap -sT
10.10.1-254.1-254" likely to put me in the street?

Thanks,
 - Teo