Here's a link from MySQL about the error: http://dev.mysql.com/....0/en/gone-away.html. You might want to get your server administrator to check MySQL's logs to see if there's anything there that might explain why the server 'going away.'

I have been thinking about releasing a 'plugin' that reverts the verify code back to the 2.x code since there are some issues with the new code with Windows servers, but it would also work in your case too. We're currently busy working on gforum, so it will be a while before I get a chance to put the plugin together.

Adrian