Then I think it's a kernel (Red Hat kernel 2.4) bug, because I've had the same issue on 4 different machines of different ages and configurations, using the same or similar datasets and using different ones. I wanted to eliminate postgres as a culprit because it would be the easiest thing to correct.
As noted in my previous post I'm currently experiencing the problem on a Red Hat 8.0 and 7.2 (fully errata patched) (and am currently testing a RH7.1 install without patching the kernel to see what I get [so far no lockups {4 days production load}]).
So, I think it's time ti switch to FreeBSD, or move my question to a Red Hat list. I'll give the Red Hat geeks a chance to answer before becoming a trait..., I mean moving to FreeBSD.
Tom Lane wrote:
DeJuan Jackson <djackson@speedfc.com> writes:
Both systems locks up, no faults, no core dumps, it just completely stop
responding and has to be hard booted... Beyond that your guess is as
good as mine.
The whole system freezes, not only Postgres? In that case I don't think
you need to guess very hard: you've got a hardware problem. Well, maybe
it could be a kernel bug, but I'd bet hardware. In any case, Postgres
is an unprivileged user process: it can *not* lock up the rest of the
system. It could tickle a kernel bug that results in a lockup, but that
doesn't make it Postgres' fault.
regards, tom lane