Talk:Load (computing): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:08, 15 October 2012

Revision as of 07:10, 15 October 2012

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# Adding to the note by previous user, "Load average is not CPU utilization" is correct. Load average is not necessarily CPU utilization. If the system was hanging on disk all the time, and CPU was hitting high iowait, it's not exactly "utilizing" the CPU.

# Statements like this is just wrong: "(no processes had to wait for a turn)". We already know processes waited on the minute average, just because we change averages doesn't magically change history. Average does not define minimums and maximums.

# To use the word "overloaded" and "underloaded" is correct but also highly misleading. Your system may not be conceptually underloaded at all even if the system has 0under 1.700 load average. Loads spike and drop, once again, average does not define minimums and maximums. Whether it's underloaded or not depends on what is running and how it's affecting the system. To give a specific example, let's say we have a voice communication program and every time you say something, it uses more CPU. But your CPU can't handle the increased load and thus sends stuttering messages. So, the communication program overloads your CPU. But you don't talk 100% of the time, so, it may be underloaded most of the time. Then to say your CPU is underloaded but your CPU couldn't handle the communication program is highly confusing.

# "This means that this CPU could have handled all of the work scheduled for the last minute if it were 1.73 times as fast" is also untrue. Load average, once again, is not purely dependent on CPU. That implies that load average only depends on CPU.

--[[User:Grumpyland|-Grumps]] ([[User talk:Grumpyland|talk]]) 06:50, 15 October 2012 (UTC)