How to Correctly Interpret Load Values in Linux

Asked By rexwald montano 20 points N/A Posted on - 01/12/2012

I am new to Linux and am still familiarizing with it.

I am working with shell and I don’t understand what the load average of top implies.

There are three different values that top delivers with the load average that I don’t also understand.

The load value on my server is mostly 0, 85.

I am hoping someone can help me understand what the normal values for the load are, their significance, and how to use the data correctly.

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Answered By Richard Gabriel 0 points N/A #101257

How to Correctly Interpret Load Values in Linux

In Linux, what is implied by load averages are the three numbers which are shown with the uptimeand topcommands, and they look like this: load average: 0.09, 0.05, 0.01

What the three numbers basically represents are the averages over progressively longer periods of time, and when you have the lower load numbers the better. Higher numbers will mean that there is a problem or an overloaded machine. The following is an example of what the values mean:

• 0.00 implies that there is no traffic on the bridge at all. In this case, between 0.00 and 1.00 there will be no backup.
• 1.00 implies that the bridge is exactly at capacity.In this case everything is still good.

-Richard Gabriel

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• Posted on - 01/12/2012
• Question Category: Linux