[Zope] Non-responsive folders

[Garth B.]

Hello everyone,

Python 2.3.4
Zope 2.7.3
Apache 2.0.46

I have a website that has been running flawlessly since late last year
sitting behind Apache using the usual rewrite rules.  I've recently
started experiencing some folders becoming non-responsive when trying
to view them (e.g. http://www.someserver.com/somefolder).  I can still
access most other folders without a problem.  When I hit an offending
folder, I simply get no response and the browser just waits and waits.
 I haven't been able to establish a pattern as to what's behind the
folders that might be causing the problem.  On a clean start the
problematic folders usually respond normally for awhile, then stop. 
So far, which folders stop responding are always the same.

Zope's event.log shows a number of the following in case it is relevant:

2005-08-16T13:50:35 ERROR(200) ZServer uncaptured python exception,
closing channel <ZServer.HTTPServer.zhttp_channel connected
127.0.0.1:40850 at 0xb2b5c5ec channel#: 6014 requests:>
(socket.error:(104, 'Connection reset by peer')
[/var/tmp/python2.3-2.3.4-root/usr/lib/python2.3/asynchat.py|initiate_send|218]
[/usr/local/Zope/2.7.3/lib/python/ZServer/medusa/http_server.py|send|417]
[/var/tmp/python2.3-2.3.4-root/usr/lib/python2.3/asyncore.py|send|337])

The problem occurs sporadically enough that I haven't been able to
tell whether these lines from the event.log happen in conjunction with
a non-responsive folder.

I also see the occasional ZODB conflict error.

Interestingly enough I can directly view the offending folders without
a problem if I circumvent Apache (e.g.
http://zope.someserver.com:8080/website/somefolder).  As far as I can
tell nothing has changed with my Apache configuration.

At first I thought that maybe something had gotten screwed up with my
Zope instance or data.fs (~1200MB), but since I can directly view the
offending folders without a problem by skipping Apache, I'm starting
to think otherwise.  Restarting Zope *usually* temporarily clears the
problem.

Can anyone offer any suggestions for what might be going on or what
other evidence I can look for?  As a possible solution, I'm hastily
preparing to upgrade to a more recent version of Zope, but I'd sure
like to know what's suddenly gone wrong (especially since upgrading
may not solve the problem).

Thank you!
Garth