Apache gets stuck on Reading Request, bringing server to crawl

[xxclixxx]

Hi All

My server keeps coming to a crawl. Viewing the apache status shows that apache is getting stuck on the reading request mode. I've been searching all day for a solution and found none.

I kept restarting httpd periodically so all the R's could go back to normal and the site would start loading again. Hence the 16 minute uptime

Server uptime: 16 minutes 23 seconds
Total accesses: 22898 - Total Traffic: 59.0 MB
CPU Usage: u18.18 s4.44 cu4.59 cs.71 - 2.84% CPU load
23.3 requests/sec - 61.4 kB/second - 2700 B/request
146 requests currently being processed, 4 idle servers

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR_R
WRRRRRWRR_WRRRRRWWR__W..........................................
................................................................

Any ideas?

[lammert]

Seems like a Denial of Service attack where someone sends you incomplete packets. Use the command netstat -nt to see if the problems are coming from one IP address or group addresses and try to block them with a firewall.