named problems - "not enough free resources"

[jrap]

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Hi there,

On the server that I maintain, I sometimes notice long waiting times to connect to a site. Other people have complained as well.

So I checked /var/log/messages and notice hundreds of errors similar to this:

Sep 30 16:32:32 jrap named[11764]: client xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx#5931: error sending response: not enough free resources

top reports:

load average: 0.26, 0.28, 0.27
Cpu(s): 0.2% us, 0.5% sy, 1.7% ni, 97.5% id, 0.2% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.0% si
Mem: 2073776k total, 1977812k used, 95964k free, 59764k buffers
Swap: 1052248k total, 55632k used, 996616k free, 882864k cached

What can I do to prevent these errors from occurring? Is this a priority issue or something?

Any help would be much appreciated - thanks!

[robertdaleweir]

Hi jrap
If the Network link is at, or near capacity, your TX buffers may be raising an error (through your driver) as they reach capacity.
Also sometimes if some of your NIC cards have different speed capabilties than the backbone you may be having speed matching issues. Some NIC cards are better than others at negotiating transfer rates. Are your NIC cards seen as compatable with your Router (manufacturers suggested hardware)?
Do some NIC cards seem to have less problems. If so maybe this indicates a compatiblity issue. Not sure this helps much but some ideas anyway. Cheers...
Robert