Thread: Postmaster only takes 4-5% CPU
Hi all: When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost 100% of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% CPU and the same query takes really longer to finish. I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. This is a "top" screen while running the query: 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 74 processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped CPU states: 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K shrd, 11496K buff Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free 196916K cached PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 0:02 postmaster 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 0:00 kjournald Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? Thanks a lot! Ruben.
Did not your postmaster wait for harddisk ? Ruben wrote: > Hi all: > > When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost 100% > of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% CPU and > the same query takes really longer to finish. > > I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small > percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. > > This is a "top" screen while running the query: > > 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 > 74 processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped > CPU states: 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle > Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K shrd, 11496K > buff > Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free 196916K > cached > > PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND > 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 0:02 postmaster > 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 0:00 kjournald > > Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? > > Thanks a lot! Ruben. > > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster >
Hi Jan: There is no disk activity to wait for. Thanks. Jan Poslusny wrote: > Did not your postmaster wait for harddisk ? > > Ruben wrote: > >> Hi all: >> >> When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost >> 100% of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% >> CPU and the same query takes really longer to finish. >> >> I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small >> percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. >> >> This is a "top" screen while running the query: >> >> 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 >> 74 processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped >> CPU states: 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle >> Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K shrd, >> 11496K buff >> Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free >> 196916K cached >> >> PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND >> 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 0:02 postmaster >> 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 0:00 kjournald >> >> Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? >> >> Thanks a lot! Ruben. >> >> >> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- >> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster >> >
On 29 May 2003 at 13:24, Ruben wrote: > When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost 100% > of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% CPU and > the same query takes really longer to finish. Check vmstat when query is running. Is it saturating disk BW? If yes, have you vacuummed the table/database recently? HTH Bye Shridhar -- Slurm, n.: The slime that accumulates on the underside of a soap bar when it sits in the dish too long. -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets"
Since there is 2.1% system usage, kjournald has cpu-usage and postgres has the status 'D' that's probably the case. Arjen > Jan Poslusny wrote: > > Did not your postmaster wait for harddisk ? > > Ruben wrote: > > Hi all: > > > > When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost > > 100% > > of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes > 4-5% CPU and > > the same query takes really longer to finish. > > > > I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small > > percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. > > > > This is a "top" screen while running the query: > > > > 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 74 > > processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped CPU states: > > 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle > > Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K > shrd, 11496K > > buff > > Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free > 196916K > > cached > > > > PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM > TIME COMMAND > > 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 > 0:02 postmaster > > 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 > 0:00 kjournald > > > > Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? > > > > Thanks a lot! Ruben. > > > > > > ---------------------------(end of > > broadcast)--------------------------- > > TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster > > > > > ---------------------------(end of > broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 1: subscribe and unsubscribe commands go to > majordomo@postgresql.org >
On Thu, 29 May 2003, Ruben wrote: > Hi all: > > When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost 100% > of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% CPU and > the same query takes really longer to finish. > > I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small > percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. > > This is a "top" screen while running the query: > > 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 > 74 processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped > CPU states: 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle > Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K shrd, 11496K > buff > Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free 196916K > cached > > PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND > 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 0:02 postmaster > 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 0:00 kjournald > > Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? Looks like you're waiting on I/O. What's your disk subsystem configuration?
Thanks for your answers Jan, Arjen, Shridar and Scott: Postmaster is back taking lots of CPU when needed. I guess you were right about Postgres waiting for some I/O activity. Anyway, I was not able to see what process was responsible for this, since top showed nothing remarkable. This is a new top while running a VACUUM of the database: 8:51pm up 6:30, 3 users, load average: 0,45, 0,11, 0,04 93 processes: 89 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped CPU states: 0,1% user, 1,1% system, 0,0% nice, 98,6% idle Mem: 1031012K av, 1019612K used, 11400K free, 0K shrd, 44896K buff Swap: 2040244K av, 1716K used, 2038528K free 894008K cached PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND 1673 postgres 15 0 5120 5120 3196 R 0,9 0,4 0:02 postmaster 1683 root 15 0 1044 1044 840 R 0,1 0,1 0:00 top 1 root 15 0 476 476 424 S 0,0 0,0 0:04 init 2 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 keventd 3 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kapmd 4 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0,0 0,0 0:00 ksoftirqd_CPU0 5 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kswapd 6 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 bdflush 7 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kupdated 8 root 25 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 mdrecoveryd 12 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 66 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 khubd 266 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 267 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:05 kjournald 269 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 547 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 eth0 Cheers, Ruben. Jan Poslusny wrote: > Did not your postmaster wait for harddisk ? > > Ruben wrote: > >> Hi all: >> >> When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost >> 100% of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% >> CPU and the same query takes really longer to finish. >> >> I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small >> percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. >> >> This is a "top" screen while running the query: >> >> 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 >> 74 processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped >> CPU states: 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle >> Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K shrd, >> 11496K buff >> Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free >> 196916K cached >> >> PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND >> 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 0:02 postmaster >> 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 0:00 kjournald >> >> Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? >> >> Thanks a lot! Ruben. >> >> >> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- >> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster
Under some circumstances, on my (somewhat) older 7.2 box running the 2.4.9 kernel, the kswapd and bdflush daemons will start working overtime when there are accesses by windows users via samba to look through large directories. This makes the box QUITE slow and pokey, and all the tasks that are running besides kswapd / bdflush are in D state mostly, while the swap daemon eats 0 to 100% CPU depending on some change in state in samba I've not bothered tracking down. I understand a newer kernel might be a good thing for me, so eventually I'll do that. For now I just put the Windows Samba people on another box. They both go through the the same NAS, and it keeps the load off the main server. So, look for other processes that might be doing something like scanning a directory of 40,000 files or some such. On Thu, 29 May 2003, Ruben wrote: > Thanks for your answers Jan, Arjen, Shridar and Scott: > > Postmaster is back taking lots of CPU when needed. I guess you were > right about Postgres waiting for some I/O activity. Anyway, I was not > able to see what process was responsible for this, since top showed > nothing remarkable. > > This is a new top while running a VACUUM of the database: > > 8:51pm up 6:30, 3 users, load average: 0,45, 0,11, 0,04 > 93 processes: 89 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped > CPU states: 0,1% user, 1,1% system, 0,0% nice, 98,6% idle > Mem: 1031012K av, 1019612K used, 11400K free, 0K shrd, 44896K buff > Swap: 2040244K av, 1716K used, 2038528K free 894008K cached > > PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND > 1673 postgres 15 0 5120 5120 3196 R 0,9 0,4 0:02 postmaster > 1683 root 15 0 1044 1044 840 R 0,1 0,1 0:00 top > 1 root 15 0 476 476 424 S 0,0 0,0 0:04 init > 2 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 keventd > 3 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kapmd > 4 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0,0 0,0 0:00 > ksoftirqd_CPU0 > 5 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kswapd > 6 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 bdflush > 7 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kupdated > 8 root 25 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 mdrecoveryd > 12 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald > 66 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 khubd > 266 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald > 267 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald > 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:05 kjournald > 269 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald > 547 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 eth0 > > Cheers, Ruben. > > > Jan Poslusny wrote: > > Did not your postmaster wait for harddisk ? > > > > Ruben wrote: > > > >> Hi all: > >> > >> When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost > >> 100% of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% > >> CPU and the same query takes really longer to finish. > >> > >> I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small > >> percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. > >> > >> This is a "top" screen while running the query: > >> > >> 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 > >> 74 processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped > >> CPU states: 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle > >> Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K shrd, > >> 11496K buff > >> Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free > >> 196916K cached > >> > >> PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND > >> 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 0:02 postmaster > >> 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 0:00 kjournald > >> > >> Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? > >> > >> Thanks a lot! Ruben. > >> > >> > >> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > >> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster > > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 2: you can get off all lists at once with the unregister command > (send "unregister YourEmailAddressHere" to majordomo@postgresql.org) >
Hi: I'm sorry to get back with this, but I claimed victory too soon. Postmaster is back (intermitently) taking just a small % of cpu while system is almost 100% idle, as you can see in "top" below. Any ideas of how can I fix this? Programs running queries are going too slooooow. Thanks! 11:21am up 7 days, 21:00, 6 users, load average: 1,10, 1,04, 0,86 106 processes: 102 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped CPU states: 0,5% user, 1,7% system, 0,0% nice, 97,6% idle Mem: 1031012K av, 1019052K used, 11960K free, 0K shrd, 11340K buff Swap: 2040244K av, 153828K used, 1886416K free 958512K cached PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND 23057 postgres 15 0 3316 3136 2292 R 1,1 0,3 0:17 postmaster 23073 postgres 15 0 1096 1096 840 R 0,1 0,1 0:00 top 1 root 15 0 468 428 416 S 0,0 0,0 0:04 init 2 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 keventd 3 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kapmd 4 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0,0 0,0 0:00 ksoftirqd_C 5 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 1:18 kswapd 6 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:07 bdflush 7 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kupdated 8 root 25 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 mdrecoveryd 12 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 66 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 khubd 266 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 267 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:29 kjournald 269 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald 547 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 eth0 scott.marlowe wrote: > Under some circumstances, on my (somewhat) older 7.2 box running the 2.4.9 > kernel, the kswapd and bdflush daemons will start working overtime when > there are accesses by windows users via samba to look through large > directories. > > This makes the box QUITE slow and pokey, and all the tasks that are > running besides kswapd / bdflush are in D state mostly, while the swap > daemon eats 0 to 100% CPU depending on some change in state in samba I've > not bothered tracking down. > > I understand a newer kernel might be a good thing for me, so eventually > I'll do that. For now I just put the Windows Samba people on another box. > They both go through the the same NAS, and it keeps the load off the main > server. > > So, look for other processes that might be doing something like scanning a > directory of 40,000 files or some such. > > On Thu, 29 May 2003, Ruben wrote: > > >>Thanks for your answers Jan, Arjen, Shridar and Scott: >> >>Postmaster is back taking lots of CPU when needed. I guess you were >>right about Postgres waiting for some I/O activity. Anyway, I was not >>able to see what process was responsible for this, since top showed >>nothing remarkable. >> >>This is a new top while running a VACUUM of the database: >> >> 8:51pm up 6:30, 3 users, load average: 0,45, 0,11, 0,04 >>93 processes: 89 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped >>CPU states: 0,1% user, 1,1% system, 0,0% nice, 98,6% idle >>Mem: 1031012K av, 1019612K used, 11400K free, 0K shrd, 44896K buff >>Swap: 2040244K av, 1716K used, 2038528K free 894008K cached >> >> PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND >> 1673 postgres 15 0 5120 5120 3196 R 0,9 0,4 0:02 postmaster >> 1683 root 15 0 1044 1044 840 R 0,1 0,1 0:00 top >> 1 root 15 0 476 476 424 S 0,0 0,0 0:04 init >> 2 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 keventd >> 3 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kapmd >> 4 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0,0 0,0 0:00 >>ksoftirqd_CPU0 >> 5 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kswapd >> 6 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 bdflush >> 7 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kupdated >> 8 root 25 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 mdrecoveryd >> 12 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald >> 66 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 khubd >> 266 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald >> 267 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald >> 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:05 kjournald >> 269 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 kjournald >> 547 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,0 0,0 0:00 eth0 >> >>Cheers, Ruben. >> >> >>Jan Poslusny wrote: >> >>>Did not your postmaster wait for harddisk ? >>> >>>Ruben wrote: >>> >>> >>>>Hi all: >>>> >>>>When I run a (big) query from pgsql, postmaster used to take almost >>>>100% of CPU. Now, with aparent no reason, Postmaster only takes 4-5% >>>>CPU and the same query takes really longer to finish. >>>> >>>>I have tried renicing -20 postmaster but it still only takes a small >>>>percentage of CPU, while 90% is idle. >>>> >>>>This is a "top" screen while running the query: >>>> >>>> 2:27pm up 5 min, 2 users, load average: 0,80, 0,26, 0,08 >>>>74 processes: 72 sleeping, 2 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped >>>>CPU states: 3,1% user, 2,1% system, 0,0% nice, 94,6% idle >>>>Mem: 1031012K av, 246040K used, 784972K free, 0K shrd, >>>>11496K buff >>>>Swap: 2040244K av, 0K used, 2040244K free >>>>196916K cached >>>> >>>> PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND >>>> 1165 postgres 0 -20 3476 3476 2912 D < 4,5 0,3 0:02 postmaster >>>> 268 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0,1 0,0 0:00 kjournald >>>> >>>>Any idea of how can I get postmaster to eat as much CPU as possible? >>>> >>>>Thanks a lot! Ruben. >>>> >>>> >>>>---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- >>>>TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster >>> >> >>---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- >>TIP 2: you can get off all lists at once with the unregister command >> (send "unregister YourEmailAddressHere" to majordomo@postgresql.org) >> > >
On Fri, 06 Jun 2003, Ruben wrote: > Hi: > > I'm sorry to get back with this, but I claimed victory too soon. > Postmaster is back (intermitently) taking just a small % of cpu while > system is almost 100% idle, as you can see in "top" below. > > Any ideas of how can I fix this? Programs running queries are going too > slooooow. > 11:21am up 7 days, 21:00, 6 users, load average: 1,10, 1,04, 0,86 > 106 processes: 102 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped > CPU states: 0,5% user, 1,7% system, 0,0% nice, 97,6% idle > Mem: 1031012K av, 1019052K used, 11960K free, 0K shrd, 11340K buff > Swap: 2040244K av, 153828K used, 1886416K free 958512K cached What does the output of 'vmstat 5 15' look like while you're running the query? (that command will run for 75 seconds.) I'm willing to bet your problem is I/O contention. -j -- Jamie Lawrence jal@jal.org "Many and loud have been the voices crying that Aids was God's way of punishing an unnatural practice. One day, perhaps, an inoculation against HIV may be discovered. A bottle of champagne, then, for whoever cites me evidence of one of those voices crying that the breakthrough is God's way of telling us to bugger each other." - Matthew Parris
Thanks Jamie: I'll send the output of vmstat next time this happens. Ruben. Jamie Lawrence wrote: > On Fri, 06 Jun 2003, Ruben wrote: > > >>Hi: >> >>I'm sorry to get back with this, but I claimed victory too soon. >>Postmaster is back (intermitently) taking just a small % of cpu while >>system is almost 100% idle, as you can see in "top" below. >> >>Any ideas of how can I fix this? Programs running queries are going too >>slooooow. > > > >> 11:21am up 7 days, 21:00, 6 users, load average: 1,10, 1,04, 0,86 >>106 processes: 102 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped >>CPU states: 0,5% user, 1,7% system, 0,0% nice, 97,6% idle >>Mem: 1031012K av, 1019052K used, 11960K free, 0K shrd, 11340K buff >>Swap: 2040244K av, 153828K used, 1886416K free 958512K cached > > > What does the output of 'vmstat 5 15' look like while you're running the > query? (that command will run for 75 seconds.) > > I'm willing to bet your problem is I/O contention. > > -j