Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2003 07:22:12 -0800 From: "David Olbersen" <DOlbersen@stbernard.com> To: "Bill Moran" <wmoran@potentialtech.com> Cc: "freebsd-questions \(E-mail\)" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: RE: Load Message-ID: <E7E213858379814A9AE48CA6754F5ECB0D6CD1@mail01.stbernard.com>
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> -----Original Message----- > From: Bill Moran [mailto:wmoran@potentialtech.com] > Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 3:50 PM > To: David Olbersen > Cc: freebsd-questions (E-mail) > Subject: Re: Load >=20 >=20 > Do you mean "load" as in "load average" as reported by utilities like > top? I could have been more clear, this is exactly what I meant. =20 > If so, the answer is "The average number of processes waiting to use > the processor" Top, for example, shows the average over the=20 > last 5, 10, and 15 minutes. Basically, if your load average is below = 1, > it means processes aren't waiting to use the comptuer, if it goes = above > one, it means that the machine is busy enough that at any point in = time, > x number of processes are waiting to execute (on average) - where x is > the load average reported. > It's one of many indicators of how busy your box is. Keep in mind = that > it doesn't mean that processes are "waiting" to work - i.e. the = processes > are still executing within that average second. But a load average of > 3 means that in order for a process to execute, there are three other > processes that are suspended. Of course, the scheduler will rotate = those > in so they all get equal CPU usage ... but in order to rotate the next > process in, the currently executing one gets suspended. Outstanding! That's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! -------------------------- David Olbersen=20 iGuard Engineer 11415 West Bernardo Court=20 San Diego, CA 92127=20 1-858-676-2277 x2152
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