Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:22:43 -0400 From: Henry M <henry95@gmail.com> To: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: load average with multi-core CPU's Message-ID: <CAK1r8CX_c3Rap4GfqbzV%2BA9QBaWq%2BwJ-h-K44gFVJYeS6wY=0w@mail.gmail.com>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Hi all, Can someone explain, or point me to correct documentation on what the load average on top/uptime is actually displaying? Is the load the average amount of processes waiting to execute on the server, or is it independent of CPU? Am I correct with the below statements? * Example 1: 1 CPU, load average of 1.00, CPU at capacity. No processes have to wait to execute. 1 CPU, 2.00 load average, 1 process is waiting to execute. * Example 2: 1 CPU, 4 cores. load average of 2.00. 2 cores are working at capacity, other 2 are idle (mostly). 1 CPU, 4 cores, load average 5.00. 4 cores are at capacity, 1 process waiting to execute. I tried searching, but I couldn't find much besides some blog postings. Thanks, Henry
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?CAK1r8CX_c3Rap4GfqbzV%2BA9QBaWq%2BwJ-h-K44gFVJYeS6wY=0w>