gam_server ruining your IO throughput? Context switches hitting 8,000 a second?
This hit me today.
The “gam_server” process. Set to identify when any file in the system is changed. A useful action that has benefits. But not when it does it 3-5 times per second and the sever is serving NFS and PostgreSQL!
To fix it, just ensure that somewhere in /etc/ (RedHat Base) or /etc/gamin/ (Debian Base) has a file called:
“gaminrc”
Add in one line for each file system type that you have. For example mine is now:
#
fsset ext3 poll 10
fsset nfs poll 10
fsset xfs poll 10
#
The daemon will now scan every 10 seconds. Of course for it to do that, make sure to invoke a “kill -s 9″ first! 
