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Python server locks up

MRAB python at mrabarnett.plus.com
Wed Sep 9 16:43:18 EDT 2009 
Zac Burns wrote:
> I have a server running Python 2.6x64 which after running for about a
> month decides to lock up and become unresponsive to all threads for
> several minutes at a time. While it is locked up Python proceeds to
> consume large amounts of continually increasing memory.
> 
> The basic function of the server is to serve a large dictionary -
> somewhat like a database. I have a couple theories as to why it locks
> up, but I'm not sure how to test them.
> 
> Theories:
>    Python is resizing the large dictionary
>    Python is garbage collecting
> 
> How would you suggest to figure out what is the problem?
> 
If it has been running continuously all that time then it might be that
the dictionary has grown too big (is that possible?) or that it's a
memory fragmentation problem. In the latter case it might be an idea to
restart Python every so often; perhaps it could do that automatically
during a "quiet time", eg at midnight every Sunday.
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