I've been searching through some archives, but can't seem to find a clear answer to why my apache2 server keeps saying:

[info] server seems busy, (you may need to increase StartServers, or Min/MaxSpareServers), spawning 8 children, there are 29 idle, and 41 total children

My apache config: (or at least the parts I think are relevant)
Timeout 300
StartServers 90
MinSpareServers 30
MaxSpareServers 50
MaxClients 250
MaxRequestsPerChild 1000

It is a 'busy' server, a lot of requests are being made. But maybe the apache entry in the log is not 'that' bad.. I'm gettin it about 1-2 times an hour.

Cheers!

Ps: the machine's memory is not an issue, it's got 51 Mb free on a total of 1Gb and the swap is not being used. The cpu is also not being used, my uptime shows 0.0 for all 3 values.

51MB free our of 1024MB, and that's not an issue for you?!

This also seems strange to me, as under most normal conditions the CPU should be used, when you have a ton of requests as you say you do, and you're using 937MB of memory.

Sounds like you need your host to take peek inside.

Well, it's also using a lot of MBs for caching so that seems normal to me?
output of free:
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 1036048 955792 80256 0 173884 603048
-/+ buffers/cache: 178860 857188
Swap: 1991976 240 1991736


I've been changing some of the parameters (StartServers, etc..) but it keeps giving the same message from time to time. I've read that it's just an informational message, but I can't keep raising the StartServers can I... Maybe it's because of a 'lot of' request at one moment, wich stabilizes after a few seconds/minutes? (I don't see anything scary in the apache status)

Any hints on where to look welcome..

I really do not know anything about sustaining a server or whats involved. I've only ever had reseller accounts with webhosts.

That being said ... if I experienced a dramatic slow down with the websites ... the memory, without fail, would be minimum 3/4 being used. With only 51 mb free ... I would fully expect the server to be pretty much non-functioning (not serving up web pages to visitors)

Personally, I would be tempted to double the memory in the server. But I am not a techie ... so I quite easily could be wrong in thinking that would fix the problem.

JMHO
Peter

I have to agree with Peter here. Doubling your memory should increase your speed.

A few things to check the box for are, any worms or virii that may have found their way on to your box....this can also slow the system down.

In any case, I would throw in at least an additional 512MB, ideally another 1GB though.

Basically considering that you're running on 51MB of free memory, this is most likely the culprit of your slown performance. It may not be evident or even accepted at first, but it sure sounds like the problem to me.

Gee ... you mean I got something right??? Who knew??? hehehehehe Maybe I am not as dumb about "all things technical" as I thought I was

Peter