What is load average in a linux ?

Question

Result should be in xx.xx format (like 01.65).

Answer 1

Load Average is defined as the average sum of the number of process waiting in the run queue and number of process currently executing over the period of 1,5 and 15 minutes. Using the ‘top’ and ‘uptime’ command we find the load average of a linux sever.

Answer 2

If the number of active tasks utilizing CPU is less as compared to available CPU cores then the load average can be considered normal but if the no. of active tasks starts increasing with respect to available CPU cores then the load average will start rising.

For example in my case I can see

$ uptime
 00:43:58 up 212 days, 14:19,  4 users,  load average: 6.07, 7.08, 8.07

So as per the no. of cores I calculated i.e 8 cores and seeing the value 6.07 I shouldn't be worried much unless it crosses the red line value i.e. 8 for my case.

Comments

Well explained . Thanks for sharing the detailed information .