freebsd stable - Sep 2003 - Squid memory leaks in -stable using libc malloc

Hi,

Using Squid with libc's malloc, I'm seeing a big difference between what
top reports as memory used for the squid process (SIZE) and what Squid's
cache manager reports that Squid has allocated (total KB allocated in
the memory utilization page). Squid is using around twice as much memory
as expected, and seems to grow without bounds (I run out of memory every
now and then). I've tried configuring malloc.conf with H (as suggested
by tjr), but it didn't help.

Using Squid with dlmalloc however (--enable-dlmalloc), seems to stop the
memory leaks. For my own purposes, I'll be using dlmalloc from now
unless someone has other suggestions.

For the record, I'm using 4.8-RELEASE and Squid 2.5.STABLE3 (recently
installed from ports with all the patches there). I have Squid servers
with 4 GB RAM, and cache_mem is set to 2 GB currently.

Cheers,

-- 
Anders.

Squid uses more memory than you assign to cache_mem, this is
documented in the Squid FAQ, section 8.  cache_mem is sort of a
'suggested' value, it's normal for squid to use a lot more memory
than
cache_mem.

I can vouch for squid being stable in it's memory usage when used for
months at a time, but it's not just cache_mem that affects this.

If you are happy with dmalloc, though, go ahead and use it, just check
out the squid FAQ about memory usage.  I don't think that there is
anything wrong with FreeBSD's malloc, it just has different
performance characteristics.

- Mike H.

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   Hi,

   Using Squid with libc's malloc, I'm seeing a big difference between
what
   top reports as memory used for the squid process (SIZE) and what Squid's
   cache manager reports that Squid has allocated (total KB allocated in
   the memory utilization page). Squid is using around twice as much memory
   as expected, and seems to grow without bounds (I run out of memory every
   now and then). I've tried configuring malloc.conf with H (as suggested
   by tjr), but it didn't help.

   Using Squid with dlmalloc however (--enable-dlmalloc), seems to stop the
   memory leaks. For my own purposes, I'll be using dlmalloc from now
   unless someone has other suggestions.

   For the record, I'm using 4.8-RELEASE and Squid 2.5.STABLE3 (recently
   installed from ports with all the patches there). I have Squid servers
   with 4 GB RAM, and cache_mem is set to 2 GB currently.

   Cheers,

   -- 
   Anders.
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