Determining 'server load limit'?

[Max_thisisanfield]

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody knows how to determine what your server load limit?

I am referring to the setting within CPU Saving & Optimization, which states "Will display 'busy' message when limit hit. Can be left blank for no limit".

We have recently had a major issue with our forums which was due to a large number of users being online at once etc. And hopefully this setting could prevent the same happening in future?

Also, does anybody have any other tips for ensuring the forums stay stable when extremely busy?

Thank you in advance and apologies for my lack of knowledge in this area!

[Nevo]

Sounds like your Hosting isn't designed for serious or professional active websites. I suggest you get a much better and faster host that can deal with your sites demand.

[Max_thisisanfield]

Sounds like your Hosting isn't designed for serious or professional active websites. I suggest you get a much better and faster host that can deal with your sites demand.

Problem is that we have sudden spikes in traffic when a news story breaks. So if we can determine what our 'load limit' is we can be in control of the situation. Or is this a completely pointless setting from IP?

[mat206]

Under linux the CPU load numbers represent the utilization of individual CPU cores. See this: http://blog.scoutapp.com/articles/2009/07/31/understanding-load-averages

So if you don't actually know how many CPU cores are at your disposal then that setting isn't worthwhile for you. If you do though, you probably should set it to some number around your number of CPU cores.

[Dmacleo]

can we use decimal there? for quad core would 3.5 work?

[Max_thisisanfield]

Under linux the CPU load numbers represent the utilization of individual CPU cores. See this:

http://blog.scoutapp...g-load-averages

So if you don't actually know how many CPU cores are at your disposal then that setting isn't worthwhile for you. If you do though, you probably should set it to some number around your number of CPU cores.

Thanks for your help.

[Grumpy]

Generally, 2x of core count is "too much" for a dedicated server. Under 1x at all times is recommended. Count with relative to true cores, not hyper threading.

If you're on a VPS, it really depends on how much you are supposed to be allocated. And load average isn't as reliable as it is in dedicated server. But generally, regardless of how many cores you are supposed to get, load avg of >1 is something to steer clear of. I'd frankly try to stay under 0.5.

If you're on a shared hosting, this number is meaningless.