From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Feb 21 21:08:36 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5569E16A4CE; Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:08:36 +0000 (GMT) Received: from dglawrence.com (dsl-230-156.ipns.com [209.210.230.156]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9A20F43D2D; Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:08:35 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from dg@dglawrence.com) Received: from opteron.dglawrence.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dglawrence.com (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id j1LL8ZsW092582; Mon, 21 Feb 2005 13:08:35 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from dg@dglawrence.com) Received: (from dg@localhost) by opteron.dglawrence.com (8.13.1/8.13.1/Submit) id j1LL8Yun092581; Mon, 21 Feb 2005 13:08:34 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from dg@dglawrence.com) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 13:08:34 -0800 From: "David G. Lawrence" To: Robert Watson Message-ID: <20050221210834.GB87259@opteron.dglawrence.com> References: <20050220173941.GA25298@hurx.thc> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: cc: Christian Jachmann cc: David Schultz cc: current@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Load over 1000 X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:08:36 -0000 > aren't being serviced isn't a bug. The reason the load on systems with > many processes is typically low is that most processes are blocked on I/O > -- either waiting for it to complete, waing for a network packet, or > waiting for the user, so they're idle the rest of the time. The CPU sits > there waiting for the world to catch up... The load average has historically meant the number of processes either running/ready to run OR blocked by short term (disk I/O) wait. So the load average can be high even when the CPU isn't highly loaded. Back in the days of wcarchive.cdrom.com, it was not uncommon to see a load average of 60 while the CPU was 90% idle. -DG David G. Lawrence President Download Technologies, Inc. - http://www.downloadtech.com - (866) 399 8500 TeraSolutions, Inc. - http://www.terasolutions.com - (888) 346 7175 The FreeBSD Project - http://www.freebsd.org Pave the road of life with opportunities.