[geeks] Linux disparity

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Wed, 18 Dec 2002, Joshua D Boyd wrote:

> Hey, on my linux machine, CPU meters register barely anything, yet I
> have a very high system load (over 2).  Anyone know why this might be?

If you're doing a lot of IO, it could be that the CPU is too busy
servicing interrupts.  I'm sure there's a program that will show you
this, but I wouldn't know what it is on Linux (iostat? vmstat?).

> I'm doing a fair amount of network copying in the background, but
> nothing heavy over an SSH link.  Is it perhaps being caused by a 3COM
> PCI ethernet card?  I seem to remeber people dissing them here.

Only if the 3com card keeps distracting the CPU.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke
  "Albert Einstein nailed space-time, but the wild thing had him stumped.
   Al, baby, two and two make five-and-a-quarter; that's why people fall
   in love." -- Thomas Dolby, "That's Why People Fall in Love"