Both unified test runners currently use a single client for administrative actions (creating initial colllections, tearing down failpoints, etc.) and actual test operations. Ideally, these administrative actions would be done through a separate client that was unaffected by client options set in the test file (such as socketTimeoutMS or serverSelectionTimeoutMS). At the moment, we have to skip two SDAM tests that setup a failpoint and use a socket or server selection timeout since the failpoint teardown often times out.

Consider using a global client for setup/teardown of tests. This would add global state to the test runner but may be useful. You may also need some retryability wrapper in mtest for these administrative ops, as state changes in non-standalone clusters can result in NotPrimary errors.