Slow initial connection delay for redhat server

**happydude** · 06-24-2003

Hi all.

I am having a problem with my Redhat 7.3 server.
I have it setup running an FTP server, and Apache, which is serving a few websites.

It's been running great for almost a year, but recently it's started having REALLY slow initial connection delays.

If you go to www.jaggedpath.com (for example, that's one of the hosted sites), the first time you go to the URL, it takes forever to start loading the page information. Once it loads the first time, other parts of the same site load ok.
FTP is the same. You'll try to FTP to any account (anonymous or otherwise), it will connect, then you will wait for a long time before being presented with the login / password prompts.
But once logged in, it's fast.

I've talked to my ISP about a possible reverse DNS problem, they swear up and down that their DNS is just fine.

The interesting thing is, if I was to put your IP into the /etc/hosts file, the initial connect is instant. No delay at all.

Any help GREATLY appreciated!
I'm going nuts here.

Take care

**Dolda2000** · 06-24-2003

Run "host 217.215.27.171" (that's my IP address) on the server and see if it can resolve that quickly. It should resolve to as6-4-8.rny.s.bonet.se.

**happydude** · 06-24-2003

Hi Dolda2000, thanks for the quick reply.

It resolves almost instantly.

**Dolda2000** · 06-24-2003

How busy is this server? Can you try to run apache in debugging mode and get a strace or ltrace dump, or alternatively attach gdb to it at that point and get a stacktrace, from the worker process while it does this?

**happydude** · 06-24-2003

Would it be an Apache problem though since Telnet and FTP initial connections are also effected?

It seems any route of connecting to the server (wit hthe exception of VNC) has an initial connection delay, then it works ok until you try to make another connection later.

**Dolda2000** · 06-24-2003

Yeah, right, I forgot that. Then just set up, for example, an alternate FTP service in inetd and debug that one instead. That's probably a lot easier.

**andutt** · 06-25-2003

Have you checked that you network interfaces are running in 100mb full duplex?? If you are behind a switch its possible that it have changed the speed prefs to half duplex, if you havent set it hard in /etc/modules.conf?? Mostley you get this slow connections as result.

Regards

**happydude** · 06-25-2003

Thanks guys.
The server isn't under all that much load.
The most I've sen it go to was 24% idle, and that was just for a split second.
Most of the time it's jumping around 99% to 90% idle.

The NIC is set to full duplex 100bt

It's strange, because as soon as the initial connection is made (After the first delay), it's fast as normal.

**andutt** · 06-25-2003

How about your ISP:s DNS and proxy?? is it only you how have this ISP that have slow initial connections.

Regards

**Dolda2000** · 06-25-2003

Did you consider debugging the FTP service?

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