Can someone explain this to me:

Server Load 0.49 (1 cpu)

what does this number represent?

Server load is a measure of how hard a server is working. You normally want the load to be less than the total number of processors in the system. So a single processor system would like loads lower than 1, but a dual processor system can do fine with a load of 1.0-1.5
Do a search here for load average, someone posted a really good link that explains the whole process.

I did a search and found one thread that never seemed to come to a definite conclusion. :confused:

I couldnt find it either, but I do remember that the site explained how the load average is calculated (a pretty confusing technical page). I was actually on a server that had an average load of over 10.0 for a few days, and performance was not really hindered (although I did make sure the problem was corrected).

My new dedicated server only shows an average of 0 - 0.63 (it jumps past 2 when I run CPanel/WHM updates, but that doesn't even affect performance) - and that's on a Celeron 500Mhz for only my sites.

- Matt

Server load is just another measure of how busy a server is how many processess are being run etc.

What is a good server load is something of much debate and the server load you see in whm is nothing but a snapshot of what the server is doing at the moment you clicked service status.
A minute later it could be 2.0 or .01.

A better check is to run top in SHELL and watch the server load over a period of time and see the 5 minute and 15 minute numbers. Plus you wiil be able to see the %CPU free etc.

A better overall indication of load can be had by getting script that monitors load and give an average over a week or so. All servers have high and low load times. Looking for the number in WHM to never be above is 1 is a mistake.

On one of our servers the mrtg graph shows the following:

Max 5-minute Load 436.0 Average 5-minute Load 105.0 Current 5-minute Load 78.0
Max 15-mintute Load 366.0 Average 15-mintute Load 104.0 Current 15-mintute Load 78.0

Can anyone make sense of it? I think its multiplied by 100, but Im not very familiar with mrtg. :o

Originally posted by WebHozt
On one of our servers the mrtg graph shows the following:

Max 5-minute Load 436.0 Average 5-minute Load 105.0 Current 5-minute Load 78.0
Max 15-mintute Load 366.0 Average 15-mintute Load 104.0 Current 15-mintute Load 78.0

Can anyone make sense of it? I think its multiplied by 100, but Im not very familiar with mrtg. :o

What does top show?

Yes, MRTG probably multiplies the # by 100 (look at the title of the MRTG page, it should say it).

Originally posted by Monte


What does top show?

Top varies, by looking at the mrtg average I can get a better understanding of "average system strain".

Top can only give you the average server load over 1,5 and 15 minutes. MRTG gives you daily, weekly, monthly and yearly averages. Thats why I am more interested in trying to understand what mrtg shows.

Originally posted by mainarea
Yes, MRTG probably multiplies the # by 100 (look at the title of the MRTG page, it should say it).

You're right it does show (X100)!