Server Status page - "Server Load" = Percentage?

[Travis Seitler]

Can anybody tell me whether Brent was telling me the truth? I have a feeling he either didn't know what he was talking about, or was hoping I didn't.

Travis [10:13:19 AM]: box439's Server Load is skyrocketing -- in just the past three minutes it has gone from 21.24 (8 cpus) up to 34.12! Even now, it's "stabilizing" at 25 (which is WAY too much for an 8 cpu server).

Brent [10:13:46 AM]: actually, it's not. It's a percentage.

[10:13:52 AM]: 25% of the load

Travis [10:14:03 AM]: No, it's not. 25 = 25cpu equivalent.

Brent [10:14:32 AM]: no, really, it is.

Travis [10:15:24 AM]: Brent, anything over 8.5 generates the "red exclamation mark" icon on the server status page

Brent [10:16:13 AM]: yes it doesn, but it doesn't mean there is an overload

Travis [10:17:06 AM]: serverstatus.bluehost.com says, "2009-06-01 09:10:45: Box under heavy load -- you may experience degraded system performance"

Brent [10:17:39 AM]: i didn't say it wasn't under a heavy load. I was trying ot explain more of what that server cpu item means

Travis [10:18:25 AM]: from reviewbluehost.com/bluehost-servers/heavy-server-load-at-bluehost/: "At this time of writing, red light is shown for the server loads where the numbers are 18.12 (8cpus). This means there are 18.12 processes in queue - which is over 2 times of CPU capacity."

Brent [10:18:49 AM]: that information is not correct, as we have modified the way our servers display the cpu.

[10:23:32 AM]: I apologize, but it seems you've stepped away. Due to other customers awaiting assistance I am going to have to end this chat. If you have additional questions, we are here for you at all times. Thank you for trying our Live Chat! If you have additional questions, many answers can be found through our Knowledgebase. If you have other issues arise please let us know over live chat or give our Ticket Center a try. Remember our World Class Support is just a click away!

For some reason, I'm feeling like I didn't quite get the "world-class support" treatment.

[Early Out]

Hook up with Live Chat again - if you get Brent again, close the session, and try again. Frankly, it sounds like he's very confused, and is making up stuff as he goes along. My understanding of the CPU load number is that it's not a percentage of anything, and certainly not a count of processes (after all, how could you have 2.37 processes?). It's an arbitrary number that depicts the CPU load, and anything over 8 or so is a sign of too much of a load. I don't think there's any upper limit on the number - I've seen it soar well above what you're seeing now (serious problems).