Server Runs out of Memory

[stu567blue]

Hi There,

I'm hoping someone might be able to help me, I currently have a server that is running CentOS6, it has 2GB ram, 40GB HDD.

The server is reliable, bar one small problem, every now and then for a period of around 5 minutes or so the server will go offline. I will then be sent a notification from the server saying

Out of memory, the process php-cgi was terminated because the system is low on memory, this is then often accompanied by mysql, nameserver and spamd also failing.

Classic example, I carried out a search on one of our websites, its quite large, but this caused the server to crash.

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to Linux Administration, to any pointers would be brill.

Cheers.

Rob

 

[webhostuk]

I feel you have a VPS and not dedicated server, does the server goes down at the same time everyday? if so in that case it can be due to some cron process, backup anything.. for this need to check server logs to confirm exactly which process is causing the memory issue.
Also one important point if its VPS confirm which technology they are using ,are this VPS Xen server, KVM etc. This can confirm if its your server issue or the complete node problem.

 

[stu567blue]

I feel you have a VPS and not dedicated server, does the server goes down at the same time everyday? if so in that case it can be due to some cron process, backup anything.. for this need to check server logs to confirm exactly which process is causing the memory issue.
Also one important point if its VPS confirm which technology they are using ,are this VPS Xen server, KVM etc. This can confirm if its your server issue or the complete node problem.

Hi,

Many thanks for your response.

It is a VPS, and it goes down at various times of the day. Initially it was being caused by traffic targeting xmlrpc.php on WordPress websites, but we secured this using WordFence.

Classic example if you carry out a search on one of the websites, it causes the server to hang, almost like its having major difficulty handling the query.

I'll check what technology we're using on the server.

Cheers

Rob

 

[ES - George]

the process php-cgi was terminated because the system is low on memory

Aside from purchasing more memory/RAM, you may like to optimize your server, disabling any services that you do not need or do not use. As two quick examples, if no email is hosted on this server, consider disabling SpamAssassin. Or, if DNS is handled externally, you most likely won't want BIND (DNS Server). You can find more information on doing so at the below link:

Service Manager - Version 76 Documentation - cPanel Documentation

You may also like to look the below tutorial, which should help you to better determine what's using up your RAM:

Tutorial - Troubleshooting high server loads on Linux servers

 

[cPanelMichael]

Out of memory, the process php-cgi was terminated because the system is low on memory

Hello Rob,

The information quoted above is likely the source of problem. The following link (included in the response above) is the best place to start when troubleshooting issues like this:

Tutorial - Troubleshooting high server loads on Linux servers

Let us know if this helps.

Thank you.