What is load average in computing?

What is load average in computing?

Load average is a measure of the amount of computational work that a system performs. It indicates how many processes are actively running or waiting to run.

How is load average calculated?

Load average is typically calculated over three time intervals: 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 15 minutes. It averages the number of processes in the runnable state.

What does a high load average indicate?

A high load average indicates that the system is under heavy load, meaning there are more processes waiting to be executed than the CPU can handle.

What is a normal load average for a server?

A normal load average depends on the number of CPU cores. Generally, a load average equal to the number of cores is considered normal.

How can I reduce load average on my server?

You can reduce load average by optimizing applications, increasing hardware resources, or managing background processes more effectively.