rsync stops outputting when synchronizing a directory with many files

[Iordan Kolev Iordanov]

Hello,

I use rsync to mirror the home directories of users on a computational
cluster for backup purposes.  There are users who have single
directories containing 12,000+ files.  I am using RHEL 4.0 update 4,
and the rsync is version: 

rsync  version 2.6.3  protocol version 28

When rsync is deleting the files in a directory with 12,000+ files
(i.e. when the directory was removed in the original, and is being
removed in the mirror), it stops outputting results in the middle of
reporting the next file to be deleted:

.
.
.
deleting
d1/cfd/james/CFDkit+caboodle_Jai/pdes++/examples/EmbeddedBoundaries2D/naca0012/oscillating/SU/AMR_3/naca0012_adjustment_blk005325.soln
deleting
d1/cfd/james/CFDkit+caboodle_Jai/pdes++/examples/EmbeddedBoundaries2D/naca0012/oscillating/SU/AMR_3/naca0012_adjustment_blk005324.soln
deleting d1/cfd/james/CFDkit+caboodle_Jai/pdes++/ex

It doesn't even seem to finish outputting the file name.  Afterwards,
rsync remains in memory and keeps working, but I'm unable to ascertain
whether it is doing its job or not. It quits after a certain amount of
time which seems correct for the amount of work it is doing.

Can somebody tell me what is happening?  Is this a bug in rsync?

Thanks!
Iordan Iordanov

The conscious mind has only one thread of execution.