Re: [cobalt-users] Load Average High

["E.B. Dreger" <eddy+public+spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 01:06:22 -0500 (EST)
> From: baltimoremd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> Tonight the load average on my server got greater than my blood sugar
> level, either one of which getting high is not good for my health.
> 
> It happened shortly after I posted a message to a large majordomo list on
> the server....but after a reboot, it looks like 0.06, 0.07, 3.93
> 
> Wondering where might be the best starting point to find the gremlin(s).

A loadaverage spike of ~4 isn't that high, even for a little box
with an IDE hard drive...

...which, incidentally, would be the place that I'd start:
blocking on disk I/O.

When I torture test a machine, I'll launch enough to send the
loadavg above 50. :-)  Obviously, one wants to keep the sustained
load average low, but a periodic spike of less than 4 is no big
deal.

Note also that some fairly early 2.2.x Linux kernels had (IIRC)
troubles with something or another that caused starvation of some
resource, resulting in a process blocking -- instant runaway
loadavg.

Can you provide more details?


Eddy

Brotsman & Dreger, Inc. - EverQuick Internet Division
Phone: +1 (316) 794-8922 Wichita/(Inter)national
Phone: +1 (785) 865-5885 Lawrence
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Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 11:23:58 +0000 (GMT)
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