# What happens when a mongrel\_cluster starts?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-happens-when-a-mongrel-cluster-starts/142128>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [July 3, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-happens-when-a-mongrel-cluster-starts/142128 "2008-07-03T18:47:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Obelix](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/e68b1a/32.png) [@Obelix](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Obelix)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-happens-when-a-mongrel-cluster-starts/142128/1 "2008-07-03T18:47:28Z")

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My server is running in a node in [www.linodes.com](http://www.linodes.com), so it is not a fast  
server.

I have a mongrel cluster with 3 instances. When I do a  
mongrel\_cluster start, the 3 mongrel\_rails instances churn at 15-20%  
CPU for about 4 mins before they are initialized. The pid files are  
not written until this 4 mins is completed.

In those 4 mins, all calls to the server seem to hang.

What happens in those 4 mins? What all happens when a rails instance  
is started through mongrel\_cluster? Of course, I don’t see this on my  
fast development machine.

Any guidance would be appreciated.