Hi, looking at possible reasons for my dual opteron server going so slow at peak times, I just found this great forum and here I am, one more guy in need of sound advise.

Of course I have read the server overloaded explained post and tried some of the solutions there. They have eased the server a bit, but it is still overloaded at peak times.

If a knowledgeable soul could be kind enough to take a look at the following data and reach a conclusion, I will be more than grateful.

First, machine specs.: Dual Opteron 246, 2GB RAM, two SATA ST3160828AS drives and Fedora Core 4. Mysql version is 4.1.20, apache 2.0.54 and php 5.04 with eAccelerator 0.9.4.

Now, the output of a few commands:

uname -a:
Linux odyssey.netmanaged.net 2.6.17-1.2142_FC4smp #1 SMP Tue Jul 11 22:57:02 EDT 2006 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

free -m:
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 2025 1896 129 0 80 802
-/+ buffers/cache: 1013 1012
Swap: 1027 6 1020

hdparm -Tt /dev/sda:
/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 2760 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1380.79 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 120 MB in 3.00 seconds = 40.00 MB/sec

hdparm -Tt /dev/sdb:
/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 3464 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1733.10 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 40 MB in 4.08 seconds = 9.80 MB/sec

top:
top - 11:27:02 up 13 days, 8:53, 3 users, load average: 11.01, 10.91, 10.62
Tasks: 299 total, 1 running, 297 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu0 : 8.3% us, 1.7% sy, 0.0% ni, 72.8% id, 17.2% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.0% si
Cpu1 : 14.9% us, 5.3% sy, 0.0% ni, 0.0% id, 78.8% wa, 0.3% hi, 0.7% si
Mem: 2074244k total, 1992892k used, 81352k free, 94812k buffers
Swap: 1052248k total, 6340k used, 1045908k free, 961912k cached

The main OS was fully installed in /dev/sda, but after reading your post, I moved /var/lib/mysql and /var/www to /dev/sdb and somehow the overload has been reduced.

Now, please find attached a copy of mysql variables and status and apache status. Also find my.cnf and httpd.conf copies.

I mainly host free forums in the server, currently some 4000. Is it time to move to a larger server or is it anyway this can take the current load?

Any help in improving performance will be very much appreciated. Thank you very much.

Francisco

Can you post the full output of top and "ps wauxf".. The current information doesn't suggests what's overloading the server.

If /var/www/ contains all the php files and forums, you should let it remain in /dev/sda. Basically, you need to split load between two drives by placing website files in one drive and the mysql data on a second one.

So mysql in /dev/sdb and other files in /dev/sda ..

Try the following MySQL optimizations (replace [mysqld] section in my.cnf):

Try the following changes in httpd.conf:

Please let me know the output of "ps aux | grep -c httpd" so that I can identify which apache MPM is in use.

Thanks for the tips. I will try the changes you have suggested and see.

The output of top is as follows:

top - 11:27:02 up 13 days, 8:53, 3 users, load average: 11.01, 10.91, 10.62
Tasks: 299 total, 1 running, 297 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu0 : 8.3% us, 1.7% sy, 0.0% ni, 72.8% id, 17.2% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.0% si
Cpu1 : 14.9% us, 5.3% sy, 0.0% ni, 0.0% id, 78.8% wa, 0.3% hi, 0.7% si
Mem: 2074244k total, 1992892k used, 81352k free, 94812k buffers
Swap: 1052248k total, 6340k used, 1045908k free, 961912k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
27690 mysql 15 0 237m 179m 3584 S 6.6 8.9 1075:11 mysqld
14801 apache 16 0 52920 13m 10m S 2.6 0.7 0:01.23 httpd
15588 apache 15 0 52392 10m 7640 S 2.0 0.5 0:00.23 httpd
15743 apache 15 0 53088 8580 4764 S 1.7 0.4 0:00.09 httpd
15794 apache 16 0 52324 7516 4424 S 1.3 0.4 0:00.08 httpd
14712 apache 15 0 52872 12m 8828 S 1.0 0.6 0:01.56 httpd
15462 apache 15 0 53044 9m 6356 S 1.0 0.5 0:00.45 httpd
14556 apache 15 0 52756 13m 9m S 0.7 0.7 0:01.92 httpd
14895 apache 15 0 52660 12m 9744 S 0.7 0.6 0:00.91 httpd
14899 apache 15 0 55592 15m 9856 S 0.7 0.8 0:03.00 httpd
15129 apache 15 0 52460 11m 8068 S 0.7 0.5 0:00.74 httpd
15532 apache 16 0 52516 10m 7836 S 0.7 0.5 0:00.19 httpd
15657 apache 15 0 52412 8216 5012 S 0.7 0.4 0:00.17 httpd
15665 apache 15 0 52528 9512 6200 S 0.7 0.5 0:00.25 httpd
23922 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.3 0.0 6:39.36 kjournald
14751 apache 16 0 52620 13m 9m S 0.3 0.7 0:01.12 httpd
14752 apache 15 0 52636 13m 10m S 0.3 0.7 0:01.10 httpd
14835 apache 16 0 55632 16m 10m S 0.3 0.8 0:04.93 httpd
14906 apache 15 0 52688 13m 10m S 0.3 0.7 0:01.11 httpd
14939 apache 15 0 52580 12m 9608 S 0.3 0.6 0:01.15 httpd
15132 apache 15 0 0 0 0 Z 0.3 0.0 0:00.79 httpd <defunct>
15288 apache 16 0 52648 12m 9344 S 0.3 0.6 0:00.62 httpd
15309 apache 15 0 52536 11m 7948 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.44 httpd
15317 apache 15 0 52532 11m 8572 S 0.3 0.6 0:00.32 httpd
15368 apache 15 0 52616 11m 8568 S 0.3 0.6 0:00.53 httpd
15397 apache 15 0 52676 10m 7256 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.69 httpd
15405 apache 15 0 59880 17m 7328 S 0.3 0.9 0:02.97 httpd
15615 apache 15 0 52544 8900 5624 S 0.3 0.4 0:00.22 httpd
15631 apache 15 0 52872 10m 7204 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.18 httpd
15632 apache 15 0 52552 10m 7032 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.23 httpd
15650 apache 15 0 52368 9840 6672 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.26 httpd
15681 apache 15 0 52352 9024 5880 S 0.3 0.4 0:00.12 httpd
15702 apache 15 0 52400 8304 5124 S 0.3 0.4 0:00.08 httpd
15710 apache 16 0 52540 8060 4776 S 0.3 0.4 0:00.07 httpd
15740 apache 15 0 52328 8936 5876 S 0.3 0.4 0:00.07 httpd
15776 apache 15 0 52560 8872 5544 S 0.3 0.4 0:00.09 httpd
15783 apache 16 0 52336 7164 4120 S 0.3 0.3 0:00.05 httpd
15790 apache 15 0 52244 7320 4408 S 0.3 0.4 0:00.05 httpd
15813 root 16 0 2156 1156 804 R 0.3 0.1 0:00.07 top
1 root 15 0 1744 576 500 S 0.0 0.0 0:01.51 init
2 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.12 migration/0
3 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.12 ksoftirqd/0
4 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/0
5 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:09.82 migration/1
6 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.12 ksoftirqd/1
7 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/1
8 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 events/0
9 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 events/1
10 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.02 khelper
11 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kthread
18 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:01.58 kblockd/0

This is the same I posted yesterday, only I posted the header then and now is full.

At the time of writing the load of the server is light, so I guess you prefer the output of ps wauxf from a moment of high load. I will get it later today and have it posted.

Thanks again.

Hi again. Sorry for being absent these past few days.

Las friday I could find the reason why the server was so much overloaded. It has a lot of traffic, that's true, but quite a good part of it is referrer spam. Since it mainly hosts forums, spam bots are overloading the system.

On friday the overload was so high that it crashed and took a few hours to have it back online. After a careful analysis of the logs, it seems that right before the crash, apache was handling many connections from IPs in China and Ukraine. As a result, I decided to blacklist all Chinese and Ukrainian IP ranges and the overload has dissapeared. Now, only at certain hours, I may see loads near 4, but not those near 20 I saw often before.

Well, anyway, after this explanation, I am posting the data you requested for what now can be considered a high load time:

top:

top - 16:04:45 up 3 days, 18:53, 4 users, load average: 3.33, 3.55, 3.46
Tasks: 180 total, 1 running, 179 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
Cpu(s): 18.1% us, 8.6% sy, 0.0% ni, 49.9% id, 22.6% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.8% si
Mem: 2074244k total, 2003220k used, 71024k free, 116092k buffers
Swap: 1052248k total, 5048k used, 1047200k free, 1237092k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
12272 mysql 15 0 270m 175m 3608 S 19.3 8.7 552:43.29 mysqld
30541 apache 16 0 53460 15m 11m S 5.6 0.8 0:01.61 httpd
30377 apache 15 0 52844 14m 11m S 2.7 0.7 0:01.59 httpd
30664 apache 15 0 52756 13m 10m S 1.7 0.7 0:01.47 httpd
31333 apache 15 0 52524 10m 7020 S 1.7 0.5 0:00.47 httpd
31334 apache 15 0 52696 10m 7644 S 1.7 0.5 0:00.25 httpd
30170 apache 16 0 52964 15m 11m S 1.3 0.8 0:02.51 httpd
30466 apache 16 0 52720 14m 10m S 1.3 0.7 0:01.88 httpd
30760 apache 15 0 52696 14m 11m S 1.3 0.7 0:01.36 httpd
31162 apache 15 0 52484 12m 9480 S 1.3 0.6 0:00.83 httpd
31172 apache 15 0 52632 11m 8556 S 1.3 0.6 0:00.87 httpd
30382 apache 15 0 52592 13m 10m S 1.0 0.7 0:01.24 httpd
30543 apache 15 0 52664 14m 10m S 1.0 0.7 0:01.12 httpd
30545 apache 15 0 52656 14m 11m S 1.0 0.7 0:01.55 httpd
30834 apache 15 0 52664 14m 10m S 1.0 0.7 0:01.32 httpd
31038 apache 16 0 52640 13m 9m S 1.0 0.7 0:01.13 httpd
31265 apache 16 0 52536 11m 8224 S 1.0 0.6 0:00.48 httpd
31268 apache 15 0 52480 12m 9236 S 1.0 0.6 0:00.35 httpd
31338 apache 15 0 53092 11m 7516 S 1.0 0.6 0:00.17 httpd
31153 apache 15 0 52572 13m 10m S 0.7 0.7 0:01.03 httpd
31212 apache 15 0 52684 12m 9284 S 0.7 0.6 0:00.46 httpd
31264 apache 15 0 52552 11m 8728 S 0.7 0.6 0:00.80 httpd
31330 apache 15 0 52676 10m 6856 S 0.7 0.5 0:00.24 httpd
29883 apache 16 0 52968 15m 11m S 0.3 0.8 0:02.86 httpd
30258 apache 15 0 52708 14m 11m S 0.3 0.7 0:01.93 httpd
30502 apache 15 0 53020 15m 11m S 0.3 0.8 0:01.98 httpd
30800 apache 15 0 52720 13m 10m S 0.3 0.7 0:01.07 httpd
30956 apache 15 0 52600 12m 9736 S 0.3 0.6 0:00.72 httpd
31179 amavis 16 0 56388 43m 2908 S 0.3 2.1 0:01.10 amavisd
31216 apache 16 0 52656 10m 7800 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.64 httpd
31267 apache 15 0 52520 11m 8580 S 0.3 0.6 0:00.38 httpd
31316 apache 15 0 52620 10m 7736 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.39 httpd
31331 apache 15 0 52604 11m 7892 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.17 httpd
31341 apache 15 0 52600 9968 6596 S 0.3 0.5 0:00.19 httpd
31441 root 16 0 2152 1076 804 R 0.3 0.1 0:00.04 top
1 root 15 0 1744 580 500 S 0.0 0.0 0:01.30 init
2 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.12 migration/0
3 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 ksoftirqd/0
4 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/0
5 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:01.38 migration/1
6 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 ksoftirqd/1
7 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/1
8 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 events/0
9 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.61 events/1
10 root 20 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 khelper
11 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kthread
18 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.66 kblockd/0
19 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:08.91 kblockd/1
20 root 14 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kacpid
346 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 khubd
349 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kseriod
414 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:25.89 pdflush

ps wauxf:

USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
root 1 0.0 0.0 1744 580 ? Ss Sep15 0:01 init [3]
root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Sep15 0:00 [migration/0]
root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN Sep15 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Sep15 0:00 [watchdog/0]
root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Sep15 0:01 [migration/1]
root 6 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN Sep15 0:00 [ksoftirqd/1]
root 7 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Sep15 0:00 [watchdog/1]
root 8 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 [events/0]
root 9 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 [events/1]
root 10 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 [khelper]
root 11 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 [kthread]
root 18 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [kblockd/0]
root 19 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:08 \_ [kblockd/1]
root 20 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [kacpid]
root 346 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [khubd]
root 349 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [kseriod]
root 414 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Sep15 0:25 \_ [pdflush]
root 416 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [aio/0]
root 417 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [aio/1]
root 575 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [kpsmoused]
root 596 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [ata/0]
root 597 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [ata/1]
root 603 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [scsi_eh_0]
root 604 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [scsi_eh_1]
root 629 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:27 \_ [kjournald]
root 1414 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [kjournald]
root 1417 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 3:07 \_ [kjournald]
root 1786 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Sep15 0:00 \_ [kauditd]
root 11742 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Sep18 0:16 \_ [pdflush]
root 415 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Sep15 0:37 [kswapd0]
root 817 0.0 0.0 1644 416 ? S<s Sep15 0:00 udevd -d
root 1769 0.0 0.0 1616 568 ? Ss Sep15 0:07 syslogd -m 0
root 1771 0.0 0.0 1564 396 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 klogd -x
root 1784 0.0 0.0 12980 736 ? S<sl Sep15 0:07 auditd
root 1813 0.0 0.0 4384 380 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 rpc.idmapd
root 12121 0.0 0.0 1828 700 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 /usr/sbin/automount --timeout=60 /net program /etc/auto.net
root 12131 0.0 0.0 1556 460 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 /usr/sbin/acpid
root 12139 0.0 0.0 4400 1036 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd
root 31375 0.0 0.1 7420 2376 ? Ss 16:04 0:00 \_ sshd: root@pts/0
root 31404 0.0 0.0 4728 1432 pts/0 Ss 16:04 0:00 \_ -bash
root 31543 0.0 0.0 4816 936 pts/0 R+ 16:05 0:00 \_ ps wauxf
ntp 12179 0.0 0.1 4044 4044 ? SLs Sep15 0:00 ntpd -u ntp:ntp -p /var/run/ntpd.pid
root 12239 0.0 0.0 4600 1236 ? S Sep15 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --defaults-file=/etc/my.cnf --pid-file
mysql 12272 10.1 8.6 276884 179624 ? Sl Sep15 552:50 \_ /usr/libexec/mysqld --defaults-file=/etc/my.cnf --basedir=/usr
root 12285 0.0 0.0 3900 512 ? Ss Sep15 0:02 /usr/sbin/dovecot
root 12293 0.0 0.0 6536 2016 ? S Sep15 0:01 \_ dovecot-auth
dovecot 12297 0.0 0.0 3892 1480 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ pop3-login
dovecot 12298 0.0 0.0 3896 1484 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ pop3-login
dovecot 12299 0.0 0.0 3896 1484 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ pop3-login
dovecot 31489 0.0 0.0 4036 1720 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ imap-login
dovecot 31522 0.0 0.0 3904 1492 ? S 16:05 0:00 \_ imap-login
dovecot 31524 0.0 0.0 3900 1488 ? S 16:05 0:00 \_ imap-login
dovecot 31540 0.0 0.0 3904 1488 ? S 16:05 0:00 \_ imap-login
virtual 31542 0.0 0.0 1980 688 ? S 16:05 0:00 \_ imap
amavis 12300 0.0 1.4 51504 29216 ? Ssl Sep15 0:40 clamd.amavisd -c /etc/clamd.d/amavisd.conf
amavis 12308 0.0 2.0 54820 43504 ? Ss Sep15 0:03 amavisd (master)
amavis 31240 0.5 2.1 56372 44448 ? S 16:02 0:00 \_ amavisd (ch8-avail)
amavis 31458 0.6 2.1 56224 44232 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ amavisd (ch2-avail)
root 12402 0.0 0.0 7060 1632 ? Ss Sep15 0:34 /usr/libexec/postfix/master
postfix 12409 0.0 0.1 7584 2208 ? S Sep15 0:15 \_ qmgr -l -t fifo -u -c
postfix 12417 0.0 0.0 7124 1772 ? S Sep15 0:01 \_ tlsmgr -l -t unix -u -c
postfix 20035 0.0 0.0 7132 1672 ? S 13:48 0:00 \_ trivial-rewrite -n rewrite -t unix -u -c
postfix 27930 0.0 0.1 7388 2524 ? S 15:28 0:00 \_ smtp -t unix -u -c
postfix 28061 0.0 0.0 7128 1668 ? S 15:30 0:00 \_ trivial-rewrite -n rewrite -t unix -u -c
postfix 28817 0.0 0.1 7248 2192 ? S 15:41 0:00 \_ smtp -t unix -u -c
postfix 29131 0.0 0.1 7252 2196 ? S 15:45 0:00 \_ smtp -t unix -u -c
postfix 29133 0.0 0.1 7252 2176 ? S 15:45 0:00 \_ smtp -t unix -u -c
postfix 29144 0.0 0.1 7248 2192 ? S 15:45 0:00 \_ smtp -t unix -u -c
postfix 29145 0.0 0.1 7252 2176 ? S 15:45 0:00 \_ smtp -t unix -u -c
postfix 29355 0.0 0.0 7240 2028 ? S 15:47 0:00 \_ proxymap -t unix -u
postfix 29580 0.0 0.0 7188 1748 ? S 15:49 0:00 \_ cleanup -z -t unix -u -c
postfix 30263 0.0 0.0 7120 1668 ? S 15:54 0:00 \_ pickup -l -t fifo -u -c
postfix 30861 0.0 0.1 8660 3016 ? S 15:59 0:00 \_ smtpd -n 127.0.0.1:10025 -t inet -u -c -o content_filter -o lo
postfix 30862 0.0 0.0 7240 2028 ? S 15:59 0:00 \_ proxymap -t unix -u
postfix 31511 0.0 0.0 7188 1748 ? S 16:05 0:00 \_ cleanup -z -t unix -u -c
root 12446 0.0 0.0 4772 996 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 crond
root 25744 0.0 0.0 5344 1172 ? S 15:00 0:00 \_ crond
root 25746 0.0 0.0 2256 972 ? Ss 15:00 0:00 \_ /bin/bash /usr/share/clamav/freshclam-sleep
root 25748 0.0 0.0 1852 484 ? S 15:00 0:00 \_ sleep 7328
root 12460 0.0 0.0 1808 428 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 /usr/sbin/atd
root 12467 0.0 0.0 4452 436 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 /usr/sbin/saslauthd -m /var/run/saslauthd -a pam -r
root 12470 0.0 0.0 4496 1116 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/saslauthd -m /var/run/saslauthd -a pam -r
root 12471 0.0 0.0 4496 1116 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/saslauthd -m /var/run/saslauthd -a pam -r
root 12472 0.0 0.0 4452 232 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/saslauthd -m /var/run/saslauthd -a pam -r
root 12473 0.0 0.0 4452 232 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/saslauthd -m /var/run/saslauthd -a pam -r
dbus 12493 0.0 0.0 12800 972 ? Ssl Sep15 0:00 dbus-daemon --system
root 12501 0.0 0.1 4228 2344 ? Ss Sep15 0:00 hald --retain-privileges
root 12519 0.0 0.0 2140 700 ? S Sep15 0:00 \_ hald-addon-acpi
root 12573 0.0 0.0 1548 428 tty1 Ss+ Sep15 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty1
root 12575 0.0 0.0 1548 428 tty2 Ss+ Sep15 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
root 12576 0.0 0.0 1548 428 tty3 Ss+ Sep15 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty3
root 12577 0.0 0.0 1548 428 tty4 Ss+ Sep15 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty4
root 12578 0.0 0.0 1552 432 tty5 Ss+ Sep15 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty5
root 12579 0.0 0.0 1548 424 tty6 Ss+ Sep15 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty6
root 17970 0.0 0.3 51340 6820 ? Ss Sep18 0:12 /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 29369 0.3 0.7 52780 16300 ? S 15:48 0:03 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 29822 0.2 0.7 52812 15140 ? S 15:51 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 29850 0.3 0.7 52788 15916 ? S 15:52 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 29883 0.3 0.7 52968 16052 ? S 15:52 0:03 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 29933 0.2 0.7 52684 15724 ? S 15:52 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30170 0.3 0.7 52964 15816 ? S 15:53 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30255 0.3 0.7 52704 15880 ? S 15:54 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30294 0.3 0.7 52756 15220 ? S 15:55 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30341 0.4 0.7 54144 16388 ? S 15:56 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30377 0.2 0.7 52796 15520 ? S 15:56 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30382 0.2 0.6 52600 14056 ? S 15:56 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30400 0.3 0.7 52668 14848 ? S 15:56 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30401 0.3 0.7 53336 15564 ? S 15:56 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30466 0.3 0.7 52720 14748 ? S 15:56 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30467 0.4 0.6 52756 14404 ? S 15:56 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30497 0.3 0.7 52800 14604 ? S 15:56 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30502 0.4 0.7 53020 15880 ? S 15:56 0:02 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30541 0.3 0.7 52780 15536 ? S 15:57 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30543 0.2 0.7 52664 14724 ? S 15:57 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30544 0.3 0.7 52740 14768 ? S 15:57 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30545 0.3 0.7 52656 14984 ? S 15:57 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30663 0.3 0.7 52600 14532 ? S 15:58 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30664 0.3 0.6 52656 14164 ? S 15:58 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30760 0.4 0.7 52672 15376 ? S 15:59 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30767 0.3 0.7 52612 14560 ? S 15:59 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30791 0.4 0.6 52784 14364 ? S 15:59 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30800 0.3 0.7 52748 14560 ? S 15:59 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30834 0.4 0.7 52664 15016 ? S 15:59 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30918 0.3 0.6 52588 14172 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30946 0.4 0.6 52636 13928 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30956 0.2 0.6 52600 13412 ? S 16:00 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30966 0.4 0.6 52684 14408 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30967 0.4 0.7 52644 14608 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 30982 0.4 0.6 52700 13644 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31031 0.3 0.6 52484 14112 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31032 0.3 0.6 52568 14300 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31037 0.4 0.7 52616 14888 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31038 0.4 0.6 52640 14272 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31056 0.2 0.6 52616 12524 ? S 16:00 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31057 0.4 0.6 52612 12476 ? S 16:00 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31058 0.3 0.6 52652 13228 ? S 16:00 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31152 0.4 0.6 52592 14068 ? S 16:01 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31153 0.5 0.6 52592 14316 ? S 16:01 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31157 0.2 0.6 52632 13192 ? S 16:01 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31159 0.4 0.6 52608 14104 ? S 16:01 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31162 0.4 0.6 52484 13220 ? S 16:01 0:01 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31173 0.1 0.6 52520 12468 ? S 16:01 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31212 0.3 0.6 52540 13316 ? S 16:02 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31215 0.2 0.6 52524 12948 ? S 16:02 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31220 0.3 0.6 52580 13444 ? S 16:02 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31230 0.2 0.6 52412 12908 ? S 16:02 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31263 0.4 0.5 52536 12316 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31264 0.6 0.6 52552 13416 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31265 0.4 0.6 52536 12500 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31267 0.4 0.5 52616 12104 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31268 0.3 0.6 52480 12860 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31315 0.5 0.5 52620 10832 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31316 0.5 0.5 52628 11416 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31318 0.5 0.5 52620 10432 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31320 0.3 0.4 52484 9960 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31321 0.4 0.5 52520 10676 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31323 0.1 0.5 52332 11216 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31327 0.3 0.5 52468 11760 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31330 0.3 0.6 53208 13616 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31331 0.2 0.5 52484 12220 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31332 0.2 0.5 52420 10628 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31333 0.5 0.4 52480 10328 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31334 0.4 0.5 52560 11788 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31335 0.3 0.5 52508 10736 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31337 0.4 0.5 52520 10648 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31339 0.4 0.5 52512 10716 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31341 0.3 0.5 52848 10636 ? S 16:03 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31445 0.3 0.5 53264 11584 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31448 0.2 0.4 52356 9344 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31467 0.4 0.4 52544 10036 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31468 0.3 0.4 52460 9416 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31469 0.1 0.3 52416 7328 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31470 0.4 0.3 52520 7984 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31471 0.2 0.3 52364 8176 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31472 0.2 0.4 52760 9336 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31475 0.3 0.4 52468 9368 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31477 0.1 0.3 52204 7276 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31478 0.2 0.3 52528 8092 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31480 0.5 0.4 52516 9448 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31481 0.4 0.3 52524 8056 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31482 0.3 0.3 52464 7816 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31484 0.5 0.4 52636 9836 ? S 16:04 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd
apache 31502 0.2 0.4 52432 9064 ? S 16:05 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/httpd

ps aux | grep -c httpd:

86


Note that the apache and mysql optimizations you suggested are also implemented at this time.

If there are any other changes you believe I could make, please let me know. I appreciate very much your advise.

Thanks.

You might want to install mod_evasive in your apache and/or DoS-Deflate to prevent httpd flood and dos attacks. It should even block out some spam bots which trigger pages too fast.

Regarding the current status, have you already placed mysql in a separate disk as I suggested? and www in separate? Well, if you havn't do so. There's nothing much you can do than disabling apache logs but I know that isn't always possible because your forum users might need stats. Anyways, the last resolution could be to upgrade disks to SATA-II at 10,000 rpm or SCSI disks. (note the IO_WAIT because of heavy traffic)