 | | | Meaning of 'load ' on Linux | Meaning of 'load ' on Linux 2005-06-16 - By Benjamin Franz
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On Thu, 16 Jun 2005, Mimmus wrote:
> Hi,
> recently I had a discussion with an Oracle guy apparently involved in kernel
> tuning.
> I had some issues of "high" load on a RH3 server due to the infamous problem
> with U3 (if I remember...).
> He said me that "load" on Linux (i.e. output of 'uptime' or 'top') has a
> different meaning than in other Unixes. Under HP-UX, I was comfortable with
> values under 2-2.5; he said that under Linux 10-12 is normal and that he saw
> working servers with load even of 1000 (!) using Oracle 'custom' kernels.
>
> What do you think?
I think he is full of it.
I consider anything significantly higher than double the number of CPU's
you have in the machine excessive. It means you don't have enough hardware
to run whatever it is you are doing effectively. I've never seen a less
than 4 CPU machine with a sustained load of 10-12 that was acceptable. It
means you don't have enough of one or more of the following: CPU cycles,
memory, I/O bandwidth.
It is possible the Oracle's 'custom' kernels have something else going on,
but for a 'stock' kernel a load of 1000 means your machine is probably in
a death spiral.
--
Benjamin Franz
Simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible.
- Alan Kay
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