Apache blocks when blocked in read_socket()-call

[ml01172]

I might be wrong, but this is what it looks like:

- I connect to the apache over a web-browser, and request a PHP script

- The PHP script then connects over TCP to a daemon on the system, requesting data

- The daemon does not answer with data immediately but the script has to wait instead

- The script waits and waits, and I turn off the web-browser, thus (as I understand) killing the php-instance on the server

- (The daemon is such that it doesn't close the runaway-sockets, i.e. when a client leaves it doesn't notice it and it doesn't close the corresponding sockets, so that might be an issue, but still.... keep reading)

- I request another page from the Apache

- It blocks forever.

- I kill the daemon

- The Apache immediately returns the page for the new request.

 

How do you explain this behaviour?

 

Thank you