High Load problem - Help Required

[Aaron Konstam]

On Mon, 2007-04-30 at 11:39 +0100, Dan Track wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I've got a server that as a constant load of 5.00. The problem is the
> server isn't really doing anything. Its purpose is as a backup server
> so it only does something in the evening. What I'd like is help in
> developing a strategy, using various tools, to find out whats causing
> the problem.
> 
> Many thanks for any help.
> Dan
> 
Load average is tricky. It tells you how many processes are waiting to
be scheduled for CPU time at any time point. You could have 5 processes
waiting for CPU time at any point and they are all blocked for some
reason and will not start. What would be more interesting is how much
CPU time is being used by the processes. If not much then your have to
find out what these stopped processes are supposed to be doing. 
--
=======================================================================
Eureka! -- Archimedes
=======================================================================
Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: akonstam at sbcglobal.net