DB is slow until DB is reloaded

Hi all,

   I've got a fairly small DB (~850MB when pg_dump'ed) running on PgSQL
v8.1.11 a CentOS 5.3 x86_64 Xen-based virtual machine. The filesystem is
ext3 on LVM with 32MB extents. It's about the only real resource-hungry
VM on the server.

   It slows down over time and I can't seem to find a way to get the
performance to return without doing a dump and reload of the database.
I've tried manually running 'VACUUM FULL' and restarting the postgresql
daemon without success.

For example, here is an actual query before the dump and again after the
dump (sorry for the large query):

-=] Before the dump/reload [=-
server@iwt=> EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT lor_order_type, lor_order_date,
lor_order_time, lor_isp_agent_id, lor_last_modified_date,
lor_isp_order_number, lor_instr_for_bell_rep, lor_type_of_service,
lor_local_voice_provider, lor_dry_loop_instr, lor_termination_location,
lor_req_line_speed, lor_server_from, lor_rate_band,
lor_related_order_nums, lor_related_order_types, lor_activation_date,
lor_cust_first_name, lor_cust_last_name, lor_req_activation_date,
lor_street_number, lor_street_number_suffix, lor_street_name,
lor_street_type, lor_street_direction, lor_location_type_1,
lor_location_number_1, lor_location_type_2, lor_location_number_2,
lor_postal_code, lor_municipality, lor_province, lor_customer_group,
lor_daytime_phone, lor_daytime_phone_ext, lod_value AS circuit_number
FROM line_owner_report LEFT JOIN line_owner_data ON (lor_id=lod_lo_id
AND lod_variable='ISPCircuitNumber1') WHERE lor_lo_id=514;
                                                                 QUERY
PLAN

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Hash Left Join  (cost=2115.43..112756.81 rows=8198 width=1152) (actual
time=1463.311..1463.380 rows=1 loops=1)
    Hash Cond: ("outer".lor_id = "inner".lod_lo_id)
    ->  Seq Scan on line_owner_report  (cost=0.00..108509.85 rows=8198
width=1124) (actual time=1462.810..1462.872 rows=1 loops=1)
          Filter: (lor_lo_id = 514)
    ->  Hash  (cost=2112.85..2112.85 rows=1033 width=36) (actual
time=0.421..0.421 rows=5 loops=1)
          ->  Bitmap Heap Scan on line_owner_data  (cost=9.61..2112.85
rows=1033 width=36) (actual time=0.274..0.378 rows=5 loops=1)
                Recheck Cond: (lod_variable = 'ISPCircuitNumber1'::text)
                ->  Bitmap Index Scan on lod_variable_index
(cost=0.00..9.61 rows=1033 width=0) (actual time=0.218..0.218 rows=5
loops=1)
                      Index Cond: (lod_variable = 'ISPCircuitNumber1'::text)
  Total runtime: 1463.679 ms
(10 rows)

-=] After the dump/reload [=-
server@iwt=> EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT lor_order_type, lor_order_date,
lor_order_time, lor_isp_agent_id, lor_last_modified_date,
lor_isp_order_number, lor_instr_for_bell_rep, lor_type_of_service,
lor_local_voice_provider, lor_dry_loop_instr, lor_termination_location,
lor_req_line_speed, lor_server_from, lor_rate_band,
lor_related_order_nums, lor_related_order_types, lor_activation_date,
lor_cust_first_name, lor_cust_last_name, lor_req_activation_date,
lor_street_number, lor_street_number_suffix, lor_street_name,
lor_street_type, lor_street_direction, lor_location_type_1,
lor_location_number_1, lor_location_type_2, lor_location_number_2,
lor_postal_code, lor_municipality, lor_province, lor_customer_group,
lor_daytime_phone, lor_daytime_phone_ext, lod_value AS circuit_number
FROM line_owner_report LEFT JOIN line_owner_data ON (lor_id=lod_lo_id
AND lod_variable='ISPCircuitNumber1') WHERE lor_lo_id=514;
                                                                QUERY
PLAN

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Nested Loop Left Join  (cost=10.84..182.57 rows=5 width=1152) (actual
time=1.980..2.083 rows=1 loops=1)
    ->  Seq Scan on line_owner_report  (cost=0.00..70.05 rows=5
width=1124) (actual time=1.388..1.485 rows=1 loops=1)
          Filter: (lor_lo_id = 514)
    ->  Bitmap Heap Scan on line_owner_data  (cost=10.84..22.47 rows=3
width=36) (actual time=0.562..0.562 rows=0 loops=1)
          Recheck Cond: (("outer".lor_id = line_owner_data.lod_lo_id)
AND (line_owner_data.lod_variable = 'ISPCircuitNumber1'::text))
          ->  BitmapAnd  (cost=10.84..10.84 rows=3 width=0) (actual
time=0.552..0.552 rows=0 loops=1)
                ->  Bitmap Index Scan on lod_id_index  (cost=0.00..4.80
rows=514 width=0) (actual time=0.250..0.250 rows=126 loops=1)
                      Index Cond: ("outer".lor_id =
line_owner_data.lod_lo_id)
                ->  Bitmap Index Scan on lod_variable_index
(cost=0.00..5.80 rows=514 width=0) (actual time=0.262..0.262 rows=5 loops=1)
                      Index Cond: (lod_variable = 'ISPCircuitNumber1'::text)
  Total runtime: 2.576 ms
(11 rows)

   Any idea on what might be causing the slowdown? Is it likely
filesystem related or am I missing for maintenance step?

Thanks!

Madi