[Getting more OT by the minute] Re: defunct procs...

[Dave DeMaagd <de...@imagegroup.com>]

teo@digiro.net wrote:
> > Should I be conscerned about httpd defunct processes?
> yes, they take up resources from your system and don't give
> back. Also, some `crazy' ones may eat 99% of CPU power.
> In a normal setup you shouldn't have any of those.
> 
That depends on the defunc-ness...  If it's merely a zombie, it's
doing nothing more than taking a slot in the process table, they're
not using any  other resources.  In that kind of a case, you only need
to worry about there being a lot of them (somehting that usually only
happens as a sign of much other things being massively wrong).  

If it's stuck in a blocking state (waiting for something), it
shouldn't be taking resources beyond what it was when it started
blocking.  

Which leads to defunctness because of bad programming (not cleaning up
after yourself, bad infinite loops, etc)...  Those are the only ones
that I've ever seen go 'crazy'...

-- 
Dave DeMaagd - demaagd@slashdot.org - http://www.spinynorm.net
I don't have a solution, but I admire your problem.
SysAdmin/Programmer - TheImageGroup - ===|:=P~~~~