# Apache 2.2.4 + Mongrel 1.0.1, Random Hanging

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/apache-2-2-4-mongrel-1-0-1-random-hanging/87339>\
**Category:** Deployment\
**Created:** [March 1, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/apache-2-2-4-mongrel-1-0-1-random-hanging/87339 "2007-03-01T21:21:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dmarkow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@dmarkow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dmarkow)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/apache-2-2-4-mongrel-1-0-1-random-hanging/87339/1 "2007-03-01T21:21:39Z")

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I have an apache 2.2.4 server proxying requests to 5 backend mongrels,  
8001-8005. (It’s an ubuntu 6.10 server). Some of the users are having  
sporadic problems with the site simply not responding, and eventually  
timing out. There is nothing in the error logs to help me figure out  
why this might be happening. If the users then access the mongrel  
directly on one of the backend ports, everything works perfectly.

I’ve been pulling my hair out trying to figure this one out  
(especially since it’s usually my boss’s computer that decides to stop  
responding, right after he punched in 20 minutes worth of a telephone  
call into a Project Setup form). I want to say it’s an Apache problem  
since the mongrels respond just fine, but I’m not sure. I’ve tried  
completely reinstalling my apache/mongrel stack with the latest  
versions, etc., but it still happens.

When I ran our site on Lighttpd+fcgi, I never had these problems. I  
also haven’t come across the problem in Safari yet, but I’m the only  
mac user here. The problem does appear in Firefox and Internet  
Explorer, though.

Can anyone help a [very] frustrated person?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dmarkow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@dmarkow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dmarkow)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/apache-2-2-4-mongrel-1-0-1-random-hanging/87339/2 "2007-03-02T23:48:48Z")

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I’m having the same problem. Just switched from Lighttpd/fastcgi to  
Apache2.2.3/mongrel yesterday.

One very strange thing i’m noticing is that Apache keeps making  
“internal dummy connections” to mongrel. If i look at the access log,

$ tail -f access\_log | grep “Apache”  
::1 - - [02/Mar/2007:16:42:34 -0600] “GET / HTTP/1.0” 200 15556 “-”  
“Apache/2.2.3 (Unix) (internal dummy connection)”  
“083a8eb9b3d6c4cc0f1dbf03b71a3b4a” “-”  
::1 - - [02/Mar/2007:16:42:35 -0600] “GET / HTTP/1.0” 200 15556 “-”  
“Apache/2.2.3 (Unix) (internal dummy connection)”  
“1a452223f77526cff8ebd3ddb1ca1899” “-”  
::1 - - [02/Mar/2007:16:42:36 -0600] “GET / HTTP/1.0” 200 15556 “-”  
“Apache/2.2.3 (Unix) (internal dummy connection)”  
“651fbf7f8fc5e871c67674b98cc4f5f9” “-”  
::1 - - [02/Mar/2007:16:42:37 -0600] “GET / HTTP/1.0” 200 15556 “-”  
“Apache/2.2.3 (Unix) (internal dummy connection)”  
“893fe0173de1d40ee2f30cac61aa6944” “-”  
::1 - - [02/Mar/2007:16:42:38 -0600] “GET / HTTP/1.0” 200 15556 “-”  
“Apache/2.2.3 (Unix) (internal dummy connection)”  
“1c792514dba4d45956c6e44da520ae60” “-”

As you can see, this is happening almost once every second. The Rails  
app is then processing these requests:

$ tail -f production.log | grep index  
Processing SiteController#index (for ::1 at 2007-03-02 16:43:45) [GET]  
PID: 28053  
Parameters: {“action”=\>“index”, “controller”=\>“site”}  
Rendering site/index  
Processing SiteController#index (for ::1 at 2007-03-02 16:43:46) [GET]  
PID: 28050  
Parameters: {“action”=\>“index”, “controller”=\>“site”}  
Rendering site/index  
Processing SiteController#index (for ::1 at 2007-03-02 16:43:47) [GET]  
PID: 28047  
Parameters: {“action”=\>“index”, “controller”=\>“site”}  
Rendering site/index  
Processing SiteController#index (for ::1 at 2007-03-02 16:43:48) [GET]  
PID: 28047  
Parameters: {“action”=\>“index”, “controller”=\>“site”}  
Rendering site/index  
Processing SiteController#index (for ::1 at 2007-03-02 16:43:49) [GET]  
PID: 28047  
Parameters: {“action”=\>“index”, “controller”=\>“site”}  
Rendering site/index  
Processing SiteController#index (for ::1 at 2007-03-02 16:43:50) [GET]  
PID: 28059  
Parameters: {“action”=\>“index”, “controller”=\>“site”}  
Rendering site/index

I’m not sure if these problems are related, but it seems VERY strange  
for apache to keep connecting to mongrel, and I really don’t like the  
fact that it’s putting unnecessary pressure on rails to serve up these  
requests (site/index is a dynamic page).

-Spencer