Debugging infrequent pegged out CPU usage - Mailing list pgsql-general

From Jason Long
Subject Debugging infrequent pegged out CPU usage
Date
Msg-id 490F4338.7080907@supernovasoftware.com
Whole thread Raw
Responses Re: Debugging infrequent pegged out CPU usage  (Alan Hodgson <ahodgson@simkin.ca>)
Re: Debugging infrequent pegged out CPU usage  (Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>)
Re: Debugging infrequent pegged out CPU usage  ("Scott Marlowe" <scott.marlowe@gmail.com>)
Re: Debugging infrequent pegged out CPU usage  (Greg Smith <gsmith@gregsmith.com>)
List pgsql-general
I am running PostgreSQL 8.3.4 on Centos 5.2 with a single Xeon 5472, 1600 MHz, 12 MB cache, 3.0 GHz quad core, and 4 GB RAM.

My database is only about 50 MB and there are only about 20 users.

For some reason Postgres is pegging my CPU and I can barely log on to reboot the machine.  After reboot all is well for another week or so, but this brings the system to a grinding halt.

What is the best way to debug this?
Can I limit Postgres to a certain number of cores or set the timeout on the queries to a lower value?


I would greatly appreciate any advice on debugging this problem.  While there are relatively live few users the data is extremely important and the users will not wait for me to see what is wrong.  They demand immediate resolution and the best I can do is reboot.
-- 
Thank you for your time,

Jason Long
CEO and Chief Software Engineer
BS Physics, MS Chemical Engineering
http://www.octgsoftware.com
HJBug Founder and President
http://www.hjbug.com  

pgsql-general by date:

Previous
From: Alvaro Herrera
Date:
Subject: Re: Error en generar base espacial
Next
From: Bill Moran
Date:
Subject: TIME column manipulation/comparison hangups