I am using Linux on a 16 G with 2 quad core CPU. There are 8 processes which are doing some work (CPU intensive/network i/o). Out of which 4 have a memory leak (These are test conditions so no problem in having leaks here). Total space is occupied by all processes is around 15.4 G only 200 MB is free in system. Things are fine for some hours. But after that malloc hangs (for a process which doesn't have a memory leak). Its stuck for for more than 4 minutes (Note CPU is not 100% but io has gone up signficantly). Now there is no problem in the hanged process. (It has not corrupted the memory). What malloc is doing? (is it tryibg to defragment or builidng up swap space).I am using SUSE 10. Any pointers?