4 ms·

> The topic of load average is generally very broad and it is calculated differently on various UNIX systems, so a separate article may be dedicated for just th

• mritzmann 5y ago
  The traffic analogy is a good explanation. Here you go: https://scoutapm.com/blog/understanding-load-averages https://scoutapm.com/blog/understanding-load-averages
• 0xdeadbeee 5y ago
  One thing about load average on Linux which I never really understood was the inclusion of processes waiting for I/O, I never really got a satisfying explantation until I bumped into this post a few years ago: https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-08-08/linux-load-averages.html https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-08-08/linux-load-aver...
• 5e92cb50239222b 5y ago
  Tangentially related: modern kernels have a much better metric (PSI, or pressure stall information) https://lwn.net/Articles/759781/ https://lwn.net/Articles/759781/ https://lwn.net/Articles/775971/ https://lwn.net/Articles/775971/
  • da_chicken 5y ago
    Well, that's still an aggregated value that someone decided to calculate based on what they thought would work best for what they're looking for. It's not necessarily more a correct definition of load, just one that is more appropriately actionable for the problems it's designed for. In other words, PSI is "better" for some definition of "better".
• savoyard 5y ago
  “Examining Load Average” by Ray Walker: https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9001 https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9001