Since the BDB default cache size is 256KB it appears that your setting
has not taken effect. And judging from the db_stat output "pages forced
from the cache" this default cache size is too small for your database.
I suggest you reread the FAQ and/or the BDB documentation for
information on how to correctly set the BDB cache size.
i re-built the directory as bdb for a third time, and now my db_stat
output reflects the 100MB cache, however that *still* didn't solve the
problem.
on a whim, i built a 2.4.x kernel for the machine (it was running
2.6.9). that seems to have cleared everything up. searches are now
lightening fast. is there any sort of known issues regarding 2.6.x
kernels and openldap? i'm using the exact same kernel on multiple
identical machines, doing a variety of tasks (apache, mysql, nfs,
darwin streaming server, etc), and i haven't seen a single issue with
any of the others. the only thing that immediately seemed like it
might be a problem was the 4KB stacks in the 2.6 kernel, but i rebuilt
another 2.6.9 kernel with the normal 8KB stacks and i'm still seeing
the performance issue. looks like this machine's going to be sticking
with 2.4.x for a while longer.
thanks for all the help!