w3wp memory over 1G causing exception

[David C]

The w3wp.exe process' memory seems to go from below 200M to over 1G
with no warning, causing Memory.Exception.

I have searched around and read some answers, and most seem very
vague. They say to "debug." Well duh, that is what I am trying to
do, and there appears to be issues with my code or third party
controls, but I need to pin point the culprits in my code. I can't
use my Visual Studio.NET to "debug" obviously, so what are people
saying when they say to "debug"?

What "debugging tools" are there I can use? Thanks.

Version - .NET 1.x
OS - 2003

 

[Kevin Spencer]

If you can't use Visual Studio.Net to debug, you can't use Visual
Studio.Net. Debugging is one of the most important and most common things it
is used for. I would suggest getting into the documentation and doing some
self-education.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP

Printing Components, Email Components,
FTP Client Classes, Enhanced Data Controls, much more.
DSI PrintManager, Miradyne Component Libraries:
http://www.miradyne.net

 

[Guest]

Search on "ADplus" which can capture a snapshot of the process and threads on
a crash.

Otherwise, this is usually because managed - and particularly unmanaged
(connections, file handles, sockets, etc) resources aren't being properly
disposed after use.
-- Peter
Site: http://www.eggheadcafe.com
UnBlog: http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com
BlogMetaFinder(BETA): http://www.blogmetafinder.com

 

[David C]

If you can't use Visual Studio.Net to debug, you can't use Visual
Studio.Net. Debugging is one of the most important and most common things it
is used for. I would suggest getting into the documentation and doing some
self-education.

--

You completely misunderstood me. The rapid memory growth is happening
on the production server, so how will I attach Visual Studio.NET to
debug it while scores of users are on it? That is what I meant.
Obviously something is happening in real time, and the VS.NET
debugging tool won't help.

 

[David C]

Search on "ADplus" which can capture a snapshot of the process and threads on
a crash.

Otherwise, this is usually because managed - and particularly unmanaged
(connections, file handles, sockets, etc) resources aren't being properly
disposed after use.
-- Peter

All of my objects are managed, and I do not use any unmanaged code.
So I am at the mercy of Garbage Collector, am I not? So how can I
debug GC to see how it dispose (or doesn't) resources.

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

re:
!> The rapid memory growth is happening on the production server, so how
!> will I attach Visual Studio.NET to debug it while scores of users are on it?

You shouldn't be debugging on the production server, anyway.

What is stopping you from debugging on your development server ?

 

[David C]

re:
!> The rapid memory growth is happening on the production server, so how
!> will I attach Visual Studio.NET to debug it while scores of users are on it?

You shouldn't be debugging on the production server, anyway.

What is stopping you from debugging on your development server ?

I have no idea what is that the users do that triggers rapid memory
growth.

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

re:
!> I have no idea what is that the users do that triggers rapid memory growth.

You have available all sorts of performance counters
which can give you pointers regarding what the problem is.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Sorry for misunderstanding you, David. Are you sure that you can't reproduce
the problem even on a small scale on the development server? If so, as well
as adding performance counters, you may be able to narrow down the possible
culprits. First, when you say "rapid memory growth" are you referring to
simple memory usage increase, or a memory leak, that is, memory which
accumulates until the app recycles? If it's a simple matter of rapid memory
growth that levels off at a certain point, this is most probably due to the
amount of traffic using the web application. Garbage collection will allow
memory to accumulate up to a point as it manages the memory, as it often
reuses de-referenced object code. If it's a memory leak, it may be caused by
improper use of COM interop, or memory fragmentation, so you can also look
for possible candidates in that area.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP

Printing Components, Email Components,
FTP Client Classes, Enhanced Data Controls, much more.
DSI PrintManager, Miradyne Component Libraries:
http://www.miradyne.net