MailScanner memory spikes

[Kevin Spicer]

On Thu, 2003-10-23 at 22:33, Edward L. Hannaford wrote:

>The server is currently functional with only 1 child, however the
>memory/CPU spike is still present; it just doesn't disable the server
>anymore.  Any ideas what might cause this?

At a guess, frantic swapping.  Whats eating the memory?  What are the
CPU states when the load is high (mostly system or mostly user).  Is the
CPU maxed out or is the load caused by waiting on I/O?  Are you running
the MailScanner work directory in tmpfs?  If so does taking it out of
tmpfs solve the problem (maybe you are getting hit by a flood of huge
emails using all your available memory?)  What about the number of
messages recieved during that time (Look at the mail relayed graph) is
the size of the mail in proportion to its volume at that time (or is
there a marked disproportionate spike in the Mbytes of Mail transferred
graph)?  Any cron jobs that happen at those times?





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