How is Load Average computed and what are better numbers?

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Operating Systems Solaris How is Load Average computed and what are better numbers?

10-17-2014

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How is Load Average computed and what are better numbers?

Hello All,

What is load average and how is it computed in Solaris 10?

What are the different ranges for normal, warning and danger signs?

Kindly clarify.

Thank you,
Sunil Kumar

Last edited by msgforsunil; 10-17-2014 at 08:18 AM..

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The best introductory article I have come across on load averages is one written by Ray Walker for Linux Magazine in 2006. See Examining Load Average

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Beware though that the linked document explains how the load average is computed on the Linux kernel but the way it is done under Solaris is significantly different.

Linux is basing its load average reporting on the sum of processes in both running and uninterruptible states (the latter being mostly processes waiting for an i/o to complete) while Solaris is basing its computation from the number of running state processes only, i.e. doesn't take into account the processes in the blocked queue.

That means that for a similar load pattern with which the disk load is high, the metrics would be higher on Linux than on Solaris.

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10-27-2014

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