Too many users?

[approx]

My Server's Spec :

CPU : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.80GHz (4 CPU)
RAM : 2GB
HD : 80x2 SCSI

OS : Redhat EL 3 with cPanel
PHP4.4.4
MySQL4.1.21

Top command :

18:06:15 up 71 days, 1:20, 4 users, load average: 4.08, 3.65, 3.64
240 processes: 232 sleeping, 3 running, 5 zombie, 0 stopped
CPU states: cpu user nice system irq softirq iowait idle
total 13.1% 0.0% 11.5% 0.0% 0.5% 13.5% 61.1%
cpu00 8.3% 0.0% 12.3% 0.0% 1.9% 9.3% 67.9%
cpu01 19.0% 0.0% 15.7% 0.0% 0.3% 10.5% 54.2%
cpu02 13.3% 0.0% 11.9% 0.0% 0.0% 16.9% 57.7%
cpu03 11.7% 0.0% 6.3% 0.0% 0.0% 17.4% 64.4%

We are currently have 400 running websites on the server. And 2 BIG sites running on vBulettin. There're many php <defunct> proccess.

If the case like this, load average with 4 is bad or good? If it's bad what should I do ?

Thank's for any help

[xerophyte]

Normally the server load less than <1, is considered to be healthy. You might want to investigate and see why do you have high load.

240 processes: 232 sleeping, 3 running, 5 zombie, 0 stopped

take look at the 5 zombie and see why do you have them?

your top output does not show mem usage, please post top with all the detail, and monitor the server and see which process eats system resource


you can also use the sar to get the server resource usage report and move from there.


hope that helps

[approx]

Hi, thx for the reply.

Top command :

 17:36:16  up 72 days, 50 min,  2 users,  load average: 2.76, 2.88, 2.76
224 processes: 213 sleeping, 2 running, 9 zombie, 0 stopped
CPU states:  cpu    user    nice  system    irq  softirq  iowait    idle
           total   20.6%    0.0%   17.2%   0.0%     0.9%    5.3%   55.7%
           cpu00   19.3%    0.0%   11.7%   0.0%     3.1%    7.1%   58.5%
           cpu01   15.3%    0.0%   22.1%   0.0%     0.3%    7.7%   54.3%
           cpu02   27.2%    0.0%   14.5%   0.1%     0.1%    2.7%   54.9%
           cpu03   20.7%    0.0%   20.7%   0.0%     0.0%    3.5%   54.8%
Mem:  2055364k av, 1858172k used,  197192k free,       0k shrd,  124812k buff
                   1321544k actv,  284880k in_d,   31720k in_c
Swap: 2040244k av,   36964k used, 2003280k free                 1175400k cached

All running proccess is just normal, but there're lots of

15722 vgi       21   0     0    0     0 Z     3.4  0.0   0:00   1 php <defunct>
15706 indomorg  19   0     0    0     0 Z     2.7  0.0   0:00   3 php <defunct>

Those status is Z

[AndyReed]

Top command :
[CODE]
17:36:16 up 72 days, 50 min, 2 users, load average: 2.76, 2.88, 2.76
224 processes: 213 sleeping, 2 running, 9 zombie, 0 stopped

High server loads could be caused by just one or several resource-intensive application(s). Examples include very high-traffic Web sites, database-driven Web sites, forums, gaming sites, file download sites and so on.

There are a few factors involved to determine the server average load. With the number of clients hosted on your server with two high traffic Web sites, and since your server use dual processors, the acceptable Server Load Average is 2.00.

Now, it's perfectly normal to have 'spikes' in your Server Load. Peak visitor times, log processing, database backup scripts, automated cron jobs - all can cause 'spikes' in your server load. It's when the server load is constantly above 5.00 - that's the time to start asking questions.

I suggest you tune up and optimize your server's applications/services.

[approx]

Hi ServerTune,

It's always stable on 3-5 on the load average. Only under 2 if the traffic is small. That's why I asked

[AndyReed]

It's always stable on 3-5 on the load average. Only under 2 if the traffic is small. That's why I asked

Here are some possible causes of high server loads:

• High server loads could be caused by just one or several resource-intensive application(s). Examples include very high-traffic Web sites, database-driven Web sites, forums, gaming sites, file download sites and so on.
  
• A high server load can also be caused by a malicious script or a "runaway script" which can continuously loop, dragging down the server's resources.
  
• Too many websites on the one server - with the cumulative resources resulting in high server load.
  
• Running out of memory and swapping to the swap file.
  
• Server backups or server updates are taking place.
  
• Mis-configured software causing errors.
  
• Users sending large mailing lists.
  
• Users trying to bounce spam.
  
• Users/spammers sending spam email.
  
• Hardware issues including memory leak, bad hard drive, and network card.