[BlueOnyx:13919] slow network auth response

[Roy Urick]

Ive seen this before but for the life of me cant figure out what is 
causing it this time.

Any authentication takes FOREVER on my box from the network. Its a 
pretty lightly loaded system but still takes forever to log in to the 
shell or SFTP the first time, start a file transfer via SFTP, etc. (30 
seconds from the time I connect via ssh to the time I see a prompt)

Once connected/authenticated the system response is stellar. logging in 
from the console is also lightning fast.

I double checked that apache hostname lookup is disabled, I can resolve 
DNS fine from the server, etc. Any other suggestions?