DreamT,

For me, I would need some more information:

• *nix or MS?
• Perl version and Apache version( 1 or 2 )?
• Is it your application that's growing or Apache application that's growing?

When using "Apache1" with AIX, I used FastCGI very sucessfully, but with Apache2 and Linux, I stopped using FastCGI due to memory problems. My guess, is that both Apache2 and FastCGI save a lot of $variables that I didn't care about. That may or may not be your problem.

Some things for you to consider (if your using *nix)?

Verify the hash(s) or array(s) that you clean up is(are) the actual one(s) being used. Print the actual address to a log file and visually verify that the addresses are exactly the same. Sometimes I was clearing a copy rather than the actual variable.

Verify sizes with 'use Devel::Size qw(total_size);' on suspect variables. I usually check sizes every 3 to 5 seconds with almost no noticeable impact on performance. I think this is more a by product of multiple core servers today.

Check the real and virtual page usage. A routine I use is here.

Someone else will have to help with MS servers.

Good Luck and best Regards...Ed