error on /var/log/messages --> oom problem?

[Robert Brockway]

On Fri, 6 May 2005, Jerome Macaranas wrote:

> hmm.. i havent tried rebooting the box.. but im thinking of a long term 
> solution without rebooting.. would adding addtional memory modules work? 

If you hit an OOM condition then adding more memory is fine as long as the 
new amount is sufficient to allow the box to run without hitting another 
OOM later (ie, ideally you'd want to know how far short of the mark memory 
went).  Adding swap (which can be done on the fly, with nothing more than 
a prepared file) is a good short term fix to an approaching OOM (assuming 
you don't want to start killing processes yourself).  You may wish to add 
lots of swap and monitor swap usage over time to see how much additional 
memory may be needed to run the system well).

Before anyone says "but swap is slow Rob!" consider some points:

1. I'm suggesting swap be used to avoid an OOM until such time as the 
   actual memory requirements can be properly assessed.

2. Swap allows the system to free up real memory for use in caching.  
   Many processes running on a long lived system rarely hit the cpu.  
   Allowing them to be swapped is a big win in performance.

3. The system overheads of having more swap than you need are really 
   minimal.  OOM conditions can ruin your day.  Think of it as an 
   insurance policy.

Rob

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Robert Brockway B.Sc.
Senior Technical Consultant, OpenTrend Solutions Ltd.
Phone: +1-416-669-3073 Email: rbrockway-wgAaPJgzrDxH4x6Dk/4f9A at public.gmane.org http://www.opentrend.net
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