Hi Tom,
Q: what have you got the FSM parameters set to?
Here's from postgresql.conf -- FSM at default settings. # - Memory -
shared_buffers = 30400 # min 16, at least max_connections*2, 8KB each
work_mem = 32168 # min 64, size in KB
#maintenance_work_mem = 16384 # min 1024, size in KB
#max_stack_depth = 2048 # min 100, size in KB
# - Free Space Map -
#max_fsm_pages = 20000 # min max_fsm_relations*16, 6 bytes each #max_fsm_relations = 1000 # min 100, ~50 bytes each
# - Kernel Resource Usage -
max_files_per_process = 750 #1000 # min 25 #preload_libraries = ''
Q: what exactly is bloating? Without knowing which tables or indexes are growing, it's hard to speculate about the exact causes. Use du and oid2name, or look at pg_class.relpages after a plain VACUUM.
This I do not know. I've disabled the cron jobs and will let the system bloat, then I will gather statistics (I'll give it 12-24 hours).
It's likely that the real answer is "you need to vacuum more often than every six hours", but I'm trying not to jump to conclusions.
That could be it, except that I would expect the problem to then look more like a gradual increase in CPU usage and a gradual increase in use of disk space. Mine could be an invalid assumption, but the system here looks like it goes from no problem to 100% problem within a minute.
Thanks again! Richard
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