Why Load Average Is High on Linux?
Contents

If you spawn 20 threads on a single-CPU system, you might see a high load average, even though there are no particular processes that seem to tie up CPU time. The next cause for high load is a system that has run out of available RAM and has started to go into swap.

What is Linux high load average?

In conclusion, if you are a system administrator then high load averages are real to worry about. When they are high, above the number of CPU cores, it signifies high demand for the CPUs, and low load averages below the number of CPU cores tells us that CPUs are underutilized. linux monitoring, linux server monitoring.

What does high load average mean?

A load average higher than 1 refers to 1 core/thread. So a rule of thumb is that an average load equal to your cores/threads is OK, more will most likely lead to queued processes and slow down things.

Marcus Vance

Marcus Vance

Cybersecurity & Digital Privacy Researcher

Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.

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