Hi:

I am a relative FreeBSD noob here! I am running 5.2 on a Dell 1425 with dual 2.8 Gig 1 meg cache Xeons. I have two SATA HD's- one for OS, one for Data. It serves Apache- I have one front end apache install... and two Back end (Mod-Perl) installs. That is running 2 Links installs and 2 forums installs (one mod_perl back for each Links/Forum pair).

SO I am trying to get the server running as good as I can. I have plenty of Mem (2 Gigs), and my CPUs are pretty much overkill. It is a heavy-traffic site (over 300K page views a day), but I think I should be able to handle it. Top shows no less than 50% idle, and we never hit Swap. This is why I do not think CPU or Mem is the problem.

BUT- I also have a high Load Average. What I want to do is figure out WHY I have a high LA, and fix that! ere is a sample from TOP:

-----------------------------------------------------------
last pid: 90709; load averages: 1.90, 1.58, 1.53
up 2+01:32:18 11:12:43
127 processes: 5 running, 122 sleeping
CPU states: 37.0% user, 0.0% nice, 8.6% system, 0.4% interrupt, 54.0% idle
Mem: 892M Active, 561M Inact, 184M Wired, 81M Cache, 112M Buf, 288M Free
Swap: 2048M Total, 1580K Used, 2046M Free
--------------------------------------------------------

SO where should I look (and how)? Could it be a i/o problem, and how would I check and ultimately solve that? What can help me get the LA down to "acceptible" levels?

Thanks!
Dave
dave

Big Cartoon DataBase
Big Comic Book DataBase

What processes in TOP are taking up your CPU time? (you can arrange the processes in TOP by pressing P while in the program, the P must be in CAPS)

------

There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

Hi Nate:

That is part of the problem- there are no major processes! Some may show up- and use 2-5%, and the next cycle, they are gone. I do see the occasional perl process hit 20-30%, but, again, it's gone the next cycle.

As I see it- with a fairly high (and consistent) idle on the CPU, it's not the CPU. I have free mem, so it is not mem.

I am thinking my bottleneck is either THIS SERVERS i/o to disk, or the wait for the input from the MySQL server. The MySQL srever does not even break a sweat- it runs at 8-10% Load Average. It is connected to the server through a Router/Hub at 100.

Here's a current TOP:

last pid: 68470; load averages: 2.35, 1.82, 1.55 up 2+08:49:48 18:30:13
148 processes: 1 running, 147 sleeping
CPU states: 30.9% user, 0.0% nice, 5.5% system, 0.7% interrupt, 62.9% idle
Mem: 678M Active, 499M Inact, 188M Wired, 101M Cache, 112M Buf, 541M Free
Swap: 2048M Total, 484K Used, 2047M Free
PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE C TIME WCPU CPU COMMAND
50508 nobody 4 0 59576K 58308K accept 2 1:23 2.00% 2.00% httpd
54894 nobody 4 0 54356K 52996K accept 2 1:01 1.56% 1.56% httpd
50509 nobody 4 0 57828K 56552K accept 3 1:21 1.22% 1.22% httpd
51220 nobody 4 0 59772K 58496K accept 2 1:14 1.07% 1.07% httpd
50519 nobody 4 0 60420K 59084K accept 3 1:22 1.03% 1.03% httpd
60770 nobody 4 0 53896K 52676K accept 1 0:28 1.03% 1.03% httpd
67505 nobody 4 0 41696K 40540K accept 0 0:03 1.03% 1.03% httpd
50507 nobody 4 0 60292K 59024K accept 1 1:22 0.83% 0.83% httpd
50510 nobody 4 0 62284K 61088K accept 3 1:16 0.83% 0.83% httpd
60781 nobody 4 0 47536K 46796K accept 1 0:33 0.29% 0.29% httpd
50511 nobody 96 0 56144K 55296K select 2 1:15 0.15% 0.15% httpd
67334 nobody 4 0 5536K 4780K sbwait 2 0:01 0.10% 0.10% httpd
95165 nobody 4 0 5708K 5044K accept 2 0:43 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95170 nobody 4 0 5736K 5000K sbwait 0 0:38 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95171 nobody 4 0 5736K 4992K accept 0 0:37 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95167 nobody 4 0 5752K 5008K sbwait 2 0:37 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95166 nobody 4 0 5736K 4996K sbwait 2 0:36 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95177 nobody 4 0 5740K 5012K accept 0 0:36 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95172 nobody 4 0 5752K 5012K sbwait 3 0:35 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95174 nobody 4 0 5736K 4996K sbwait 3 0:35 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95169 nobody 4 0 5724K 4992K sbwait 1 0:34 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95180 nobody 4 0 5752K 5016K sbwait 1 0:33 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95168 nobody 4 0 5732K 4992K sbwait 2 0:33 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95178 nobody 4 0 5724K 4976K accept 0 0:33 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95162 nobody 4 0 5736K 4996K sbwait 0 0:31 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95164 nobody 4 0 5736K 4992K sbwait 3 0:30 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95173 nobody 4 0 5724K 4988K accept 3 0:29 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95163 nobody 4 0 5724K 4988K accept 3 0:29 0.00% 0.00% httpd
18643 nobody 4 0 5756K 5032K sbwait 0 0:26 0.00% 0.00% httpd
18661 nobody 4 0 5736K 5004K accept 3 0:26 0.00% 0.00% httpd
18674 nobody 4 0 5756K 5028K sbwait 3 0:24 0.00% 0.00% httpd
33725 nobody 4 0 5736K 5008K sbwait 1 0:23 0.00% 0.00% httpd
93304 root 96 0 4516K 3636K select 3 0:23 0.00% 0.00% httpd
32511 nobody 4 0 5756K 5092K sbwait 3 0:23 0.00% 0.00% httpd
36527 nobody 4 0 5748K 5012K sbwait 0 0:22 0.00% 0.00% httpd
34173 nobody 4 0 5752K 5024K sbwait 2 0:21 0.00% 0.00% httpd
32516 nobody 4 0 5796K 5064K sbwait 3 0:21 0.00% 0.00% httpd
60207 nobody 4 0 5764K 5032K sbwait 1 0:20 0.00% 0.00% httpd
53561 nobody 4 0 5736K 5012K sbwait 1 0:20 0.00% 0.00% httpd
58885 nobody 4 0 5764K 5032K sbwait 0 0:19 0.00% 0.00% httpd
66943 nobody 4 0 5752K 5028K accept 3 0:19 0.00% 0.00% httpd
60189 nobody 4 0 5724K 4992K sbwait 0 0:19 0.00% 0.00% httpd
59228 nobody 4 0 5768K 5036K sbwait 1 0:17 0.00% 0.00% httpd

-----------------

and, a couple cyles later:

last pid: 68532; load averages: 1.97, 1.77, 1.53 up 2+08:50:12 18:30:37
136 processes: 3 running, 133 sleeping
CPU states: 45.0% user, 0.0% nice, 6.8% system, 0.4% interrupt, 47.9% idle
Mem: 665M Active, 498M Inact, 188M Wired, 101M Cache, 112M Buf, 555M Free
Swap: 2048M Total, 312K Used, 2048M Free
PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE C TIME WCPU CPU COMMAND
50510 nobody 4 0 62380K 61184K accept 1 1:17 0.98% 0.98% httpd
50508 nobody 4 0 59580K 58312K accept 3 1:23 0.59% 0.59% httpd
50509 nobody 4 0 57828K 56552K accept 3 1:21 0.44% 0.44% httpd
67505 nobody 4 0 41696K 40540K accept 3 0:03 0.39% 0.39% httpd
67503 nobody 4 0 42448K 41288K accept 3 0:03 0.39% 0.39% httpd
54894 nobody 4 0 54356K 52996K accept 3 1:01 0.15% 0.15% httpd
50507 nobody 4 0 60260K 58992K accept 3 1:22 0.10% 0.10% httpd
50519 nobody 4 0 60420K 59084K accept 3 1:22 0.10% 0.10% httpd
60770 nobody 4 0 53896K 52676K accept 2 0:28 0.10% 0.10% httpd
67506 nobody 4 0 42948K 41784K accept 3 0:03 0.10% 0.10% httpd
50511 nobody 96 0 56144K 55296K select 2 1:15 0.00% 0.00% httpd
51220 nobody 4 0 59772K 58496K accept 1 1:14 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95165 nobody 4 0 5708K 5044K sbwait 2 0:43 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95170 nobody 4 0 5736K 5000K accept 0 0:38 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95171 nobody 4 0 5736K 4992K accept 0 0:37 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95167 nobody 4 0 5752K 5008K sbwait 3 0:37 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95166 nobody 4 0 5736K 4996K sbwait 2 0:36 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95177 nobody 4 0 5740K 5012K sbwait 3 0:36 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95172 nobody 4 0 5752K 5012K accept 3 0:35 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95174 nobody 4 0 5736K 4996K sbwait 3 0:35 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95169 nobody 4 0 5724K 4992K sbwait 0 0:34 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95180 nobody 4 0 5752K 5016K sbwait 3 0:33 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95168 nobody 4 0 5732K 4992K sbwait 2 0:33 0.00% 0.00% httpd
60781 nobody 4 0 47564K 46824K accept 2 0:33 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95178 nobody 4 0 5724K 4976K accept 1 0:33 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95162 nobody 4 0 5736K 4996K sbwait 3 0:31 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95164 nobody 4 0 5736K 4992K accept 3 0:30 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95173 nobody 4 0 5724K 4988K accept 0 0:29 0.00% 0.00% httpd
95163 nobody 4 0 5724K 4988K sbwait 0 0:29 0.00% 0.00% httpd
18643 nobody 4 0 5756K 5032K sbwait 1 0:26 0.00% 0.00% httpd
18661 nobody 4 0 5736K 5004K accept 3 0:26 0.00% 0.00% httpd
18674 nobody 4 0 5756K 5028K accept 2 0:24 0.00% 0.00% httpd
33725 nobody 4 0 5736K 5008K sbwait 3 0:23 0.00% 0.00% httpd
93304 root 96 0 4516K 3636K select 3 0:23 0.00% 0.00% httpd
32511 nobody 4 0 5756K 5092K sbwait 0 0:23 0.00% 0.00% httpd
36527 nobody 4 0 5748K 5012K sbwait 0 0:22 0.00% 0.00% httpd
34173 nobody 4 0 5752K 5024K sbwait 2 0:21 0.00% 0.00% httpd
32516 nobody 4 0 5796K 5064K sbwait 2 0:21 0.00% 0.00% httpd
53561 nobody 4 0 5736K 5012K sbwait 0 0:20 0.00% 0.00% httpd
60207 nobody 4 0 5764K 5032K sbwait 1 0:20 0.00% 0.00% httpd
58885 nobody 4 0 5764K 5032K accept 2 0:19 0.00% 0.00% httpd
66943 nobody 4 0 5752K 5028K sbwait 1 0:19 0.00% 0.00% httpd
60189 nobody 4 0 5724K 4992K sbwait 0 0:19 0.00% 0.00% httpd
dave

Big Cartoon DataBase
Big Comic Book DataBase

ok, that's odd.. I dont even see what is adding up to 40% CPU usages there..

I'm of no help to you

------

There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

Nate:

Yeah- that is why I am perplexed! Not mem, and not CPU... so I guess it must be disk! Those are the three classic places for bottlenecks!

Thanks for looking!

Dave
dave

Big Cartoon DataBase
Big Comic Book DataBase