[csw-users] mod_php and its shared memory usage

[Robert Stampfli]

I've been meaning to ask this for some time:  When you add
mod_php to your system (and to apache), the apache web server
suddenly becomes huge.  Actually, the php process is just as
large, too.  The main culprit seems to be two 65 MB anonymous
shared segments.  These segments don't seem to be very active --
they don't seem to take up real memory -- but they do consume
swap space.  However, when apache (or the php command) terminates,
it seems to scan them, causing it to grow very large momentarily
just before it dies.  Actually, I'm speculating here -- I really
don't know what causes it to go through this malignant growth
phase during the process of termination.

Does anyone know what these segments are used for, and is
it possible to configure their size, perhaps through php.ini?

Thanks in advance,
Rob