Understanding Linux Load Averages and Multi-Core Systems
What Linux Load Average Actually Measures Linux’s load average metric is often misunderstood because it tracks processes in two distinct states: Runnable - processes actively running or waiting for CPU time Uninterruptible sleep - processes blocked waiting for I/O operations (disk, network, etc.) This distinction is important. A high load average might indicate CPU contention, but it could just as easily mean your system is waiting on slow disk I/O or network responses. This approach provides a more complete picture of system resource pressure than simply counting runnable processes. ...