

Rule of Thumb for “Need to Look into it”: 0.70 If your average load stays above 0.70, you should look into what’s going on before things get worse.In practice, most system administrators will stop at 0.70: When you have a load of 1, there is no room for your head. So you’re saying that 1.00 is the best load? Also, like the bridge operator, you’re still fine if you have a few temporary spikes above 1.00, but if you stay above 1.00 for a long time, you need to worry. So, you should try to keep your CPU load below 1.00. Like the person who runs the bridge, you want your cars/processes to never have to wait. Unix calls this the run-queue length, which is the number of processes that are running plus the number that are waiting (queued) to run. “Cars” are processes that are “crossing the bridge” or waiting in line to use the CPU. 3.00 means that there are a total of three lanes: one lane on the bridge and two lanes waiting.

How much? Well, 2.00 means that there are a total of two lanes of cars: one lane on the bridge and one lane waiting.
