If your script exits properly every time, it should release all of the memory it has used during runtime. If it is 'holding on' to the RAM as you say, there are a few possibilities:
- Your administrator is mistaken or there is some confusion between you and him
- Your script is not, in fact, exiting (perhaps you are creating zombie processes)
- There is a bug in the Operating System you are using (very unlikely)
I would put my money on either of the first two points. Check whether your script is still running when you think it should not be, otherwise, your administrator is probably wrong.
For some background information on memory managment in general, see this recent thread.
CU
Robartes- | [reply] |
It might be that the script is actually a mod_perl handler - and in this case it can happen that the memory is not released.
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A little more information would go a very long way to allowing us to do something other than guess.
Which version of Perl? Which OS? What does the script do? Does it use threads? Spawn processes? Use external resources like DB's, IPC etc?
Examine what is said, not who speaks.
1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible
3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke.
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You might also check some of the replies to the last time you asked this question: some code would still help as would info on your OS and web server software.
--traveler | [reply] |
Without further information, it is quite hard to give you precise answers. I tend to agree with robartes, specially with his first two explanations. You might find this node as well as the whole discussion to which it belongs, instructive in your current situation.
Best regards
-lem, but some call me fokat
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