Re: Postgres server crash

Russell Smith wrote:
> Craig A. James wrote:
>> Questions:
>>  1. Any idea what happened and how I can avoid this?  It's a *big* 
>> problem.
>>  2. Why didn't the database recover?  Why are there two processes
>>     that couldn't be killed?

I'm guessing it didn't recover *because* there were two processes that 
couldn't be killed. Responsibility for that falls to the 
operating-system. I've seen it most often with faulty drivers or 
hardware that's being communicated with/written to. However, see below.

>>  3. Where did the "signal 9" come from?  (Nobody but me ever logs
>>     in to the server machine.)
>>
> I would guess it's the linux OOM if you are running linux. 

If not, it means the server is hacked or haunted. Something outside PG 
issued a kill -9 and the OOM killer is the prime suspect I'd say.

-- 
   Richard Huxton
   Archonet Ltd