dblink locked query

Hi,

I am working on a server that send queries to a distant database based on a PHP script executed twice a second.

Sometimes, if the distant server goes down the local SELECT dblink query can keep running indefinitly. This is strongly disturbing my server if by night the daily server FULL VACUUM falls on it. Then my whole database access is locked and I find myself with a magnificient DOS of the death.

Since there is no timeout possibility with dblink I look for a solution to that problem.

Does anyone of yours ever had that kind of trouble ?

Is there any [easy] way to stop my local infinite query ? The only way we found for the moment was to kill it (with a SIGQUIT signal) but this unfortunately forces Postgres to restart quite ungracefully for the other connections on the server (too bad).

Any idea, testimony, pray, support will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Francois - Paris.