WordPress core dump files
What are core dump files?
A quick Google search turned up a lot of complicated pages explaining the problem, but none that could actually suggest a fix.
A web developer suggested that the core files were a result of lots of buffer being dumped. This is typical of excessive resource usage and/or error reporting. Core dumps contain reports of working memory of a software when it has crashed. In short, core dump files are caused by a crashing software component. Instead of trying to get rid of core files, you should worry about what caused these errors.
You can safely delete these files. Although there is GDB to open and analyze core files, not many would actually understand anything. WordPress is tested thoroughly before each release, hence it is unlikely a fault caused by WP.
Prevent core dump files
You can delete core files without any worry – it does not contain data useful to anyone but developers and hosting company itself.
Incompatibilities arising out of Apache, MySQL, PHP etc could cause core dumps. Google version number of these software along with the terms “incompatibility WordPress”.
If possible, use only plugins written by experienced developers. New developers may not adhere to the best coding practices. A poorly coded plugin could cause core dumps.
Upgrade WordPress plugins to the latest version. Regarding the problem on the new blog, I found that I had uploaded a older versions of a couple of plugins.
Disable plugins. You can start out by disabling all the heavy plugins and enabling them one by one, during which time you should watch blog directory, wp-admin etc. for core files. If a plugin does not trigger core files, activate another and test. Repeat the process until all plugins have been activated or the culprit has been found.
