No, that is exactly right. Has a core been generated yet? Also try a find on the drive sometimes php generates a core and will put it in other locations. The name will be core.pid (where pid is the processid of the process that generated the core.)

found the problem and it was leechers stealing files on my server causing LOTS of apache requests but i've blocked them and i'm all good now so thanks for the help

also according to 'apache2ctl status' before i was getting 120-150 'requests currently being processed' and now about 20-50 tops so my question now is how did my server not manage 120+ i have a dual core cpu and 4gb of ram is that not enough?

also how do i tweak apache to handle more requests?

please note that my apache config is pretty much 'default'

The first thing is... disable all modules you don't need enabled. If you aren't using it and don't need it. Turn it off. There are some additional details in this article that should give you some ideas moving forward. Optimization also somewhat depends on your content type, optimizing for streaming large movies is somewhat different than optimizing for sending 10k small gifs and there are a lot of base operating system items that can make a large difference. If after optimizing apache you still aren't satisfied with the performance depending on content you've still got other options, load balancers, caching proxy servers, etc.

well here's my apache module list and i don't think there's anything else i can take off: http://i49.tinypic.com/2upckkp.png (i run a php/mysql based forum)

Web based application - Slow Access - but fast after restarting Apachee and MySQL
We have a developed a simple web based application in PHP / MySQL which runs in VPS server. (Windows 2003)

This application runs on Apache 2.2

Around 5-10 users work on this application.

This application will insert text data to the MySQL database.

The application loads fast and work fine for some time (1-2 hours). But after some the pages are not even getting loaded.

If we restart Apachee and MySQL services in the VPS server then the application is starting to work fast for some time (1-2). And again we need to restart after a while.

Whether we need to change any modification in Apachee configuration file or MySQL configuration file ?

Please help!

You have mentioned leechers stealing files .. how to identify them >

yes please tell me how you identified the leechers, im having the same problem