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# 1  
Old 05-23-2002
Question command --> top
What is the numbers show in a variable "Load Average"?
# 2  
Old 05-24-2002
Do you mean the line that looks something like this:
load average: 0.13, 0.03, 0.01
?

If so, it refers to the average number of jobs waiting in your CPU queue over the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes.

Check the man page for top for more info.
Here's a few lines from the manpage for top on my system:
Quote:
This line displays the time the system has been up, and the three load averages for
the system. The load averages are the average number of process ready to run dur-
ing the last 1, 5 and 15 minutes. This line is just like the output of uptime(1).
The uptime display may be toggled by the interactive l command.
# 3  
Old 10-16-2002
Question load averages - any guidlines?
Are there any definitions/guidelines on evaluating the numbers given in the load averages output from top (or uptime)? i.e. what does it really mean when it comes to evaluating if your CPU is a bottleneck vs. handling the load fine? This is for Solaris 8.

Thanks,
mjs
# 4  
Old 10-16-2002
mjs,

From past reading, I seem to recall 2 being recommended as a guideline. Your mileage may vary.

One thing to remember is that once you take action with one key system resource (e.g. add add'l CPUs), the bottleneck is shifted to another resource (e.g. disk or memory).


Biker
Systems/Network Administrator
LiveFire Labs - Hands-On Technical e-Learning
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