Re: select on 22 GB table causes "An I/O error occured while sending to the backend." exception

On Thu, 28 Aug 2008, Bill Moran wrote:

> In linux, it's possible to tell the OOM killer never to consider
> certain processes for the axe, using /proc magic.  See this page:
> http://linux-mm.org/OOM_Killer
>
> Perhaps this should be in the PostgreSQL docs somewhere?

The fact that
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/kernel-resources.html#AEN22218
tells you to flat-out turn off overcommit is the right conservative thing
to be in the documentation as I see it.  Sure, it's possible to keep it on
but disable the worst side-effect in some kernels (looks like 2.6.11+, so
no RHEL4 for example).  Trying to get into all in the manual is kind of
pushing what's appropriate for the PostgreSQL docs I think.

--
* Greg Smith gsmith@gregsmith.com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD