new server with zero traffic showing high load

I leased a new server a few weeks ago and finally got around to moving some applicatons over yesterday and noticed that the server load via "top" was unusually high given that there was nothing running on it.

What's a typical load for an idle server? The host says that this is normal. I'm concerned that there's a confirguration problem.

The server is a AMD Athlon64 3200 with 1gb of ram and an 80gb sata drive. It's running redhat with whm/cpanel .

Should I be concerned? Are the specific questions I should ask?

 

Well it depends. Would help to see more of the top output for example to see what is running. Is it being used as an email/db server? etc.

 

Like jbw said, we need more of the 'top' output - maybe there's something wrong happened about zombie process.

 

Show us what's generating it. View by CPU, and then memory and show what's say the Top 10 for each.

 

Thanks!

Here's the rest of the "top" display.

Nintendo, How do I view by CPU and then mem?

 

Doesn't look normal to me, it must be doing something that doesn't show up in the process list, you could try and paste the output of "ps auxw" or a reboot and see if it goes away.

 

blinxdk, here's the ps auxw .

root@ob [~]# ps auxw
USER       PID %CPU %MEM   VSZ  RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
root         1  0.0  0.0  4744  356 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 init [3]
root         2  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SN   Nov09   0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root         3  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [events/0]
root         4  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [khelper]
root         5  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [kacpid]
root        29  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [kblockd/0]
root        30  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 [khubd]
root        44  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [aio/0]
root        43  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   4:33 [kswapd0]
root       117  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 [kseriod]
root       182  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [ata/0]
root       184  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 [scsi_eh_0]
root       185  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 [scsi_eh_1]
root       202  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:01 [kjournald]
root      1047  0.0  0.0  3600  272 ?        S<s  Nov09   0:00 udevd
root      1300  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [kauditd]
root      1333  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [kmirrord]
root      1334  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S<   Nov09   0:00 [kmir_mon]
root      1361  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 [kjournald]
root      1362  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:17 [kjournald]
root      1363  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 [kjournald]
root      1364  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:01 [kjournald]
root      1365  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    Nov09   0:01 [kjournald]
root      1603  0.0  0.0  2524  372 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:01 cpuspeed -d -n
root      1816  0.0  0.0  3624  360 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:02 syslogd -m 0
root      1820  0.0  0.0  2532  320 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 klogd -x
root      2011  0.0  0.0 19852  336 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 rpc.idmapd
root      2086  0.0  0.0  2536  328 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 /usr/sbin/acpid
root      2158  0.0  0.0 21944  352 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:11 /usr/sbin/sshd
root      2171  0.0  0.0  8708  316 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 xinetd -stayalive -pidfile /var/run/xinetd.pid
htt       2297  0.0  0.0  3544  212 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 /usr/sbin/htt -retryonerror 0
htt       2298  0.0  0.0 39812  320 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 htt_server -nodaemon
canna     2312  0.0  0.0 29620  340 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 /usr/sbin/cannaserver -syslog -u canna
root      2323  0.0  0.0 57104  396 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 crond
root      2424  0.0  0.0 37724  372 ?        SN   Nov09   0:37 cpanellogd - setting up logs for classifi
nobody    2444  0.0  0.0 17028  280 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 entropychat
nobody    2448  0.0  0.0  5972  320 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/cpanel/bin/startmelange
dbus      2474  0.0  0.0  9672  320 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 dbus-daemon-1 --system
root      2484  0.0  0.0 49896  304 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:02 rhnsd --interval 240
root      2498  0.0  0.1 18392 1380 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:01 hald
root      2522  0.0  0.0  5772  312 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 /usr/sbin/portsentry -tcp
root      2580  0.0  0.0  3396   56 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinwebd -f /usr/local/urchin/var/urchinwebd.
nobody    2581  0.0  0.0  3396   36 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinwebd -f /usr/local/urchin/var/urchinwebd.
nobody    2582  0.0  0.0  3396   36 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinwebd -f /usr/local/urchin/var/urchinwebd.
nobody    2583  0.0  0.0  3396   36 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinwebd -f /usr/local/urchin/var/urchinwebd.
nobody    2584  0.0  0.0  3396   36 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinwebd -f /usr/local/urchin/var/urchinwebd.
nobody    2585  0.0  0.0  3396   36 ?        S    Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinwebd -f /usr/local/urchin/var/urchinwebd.
nobody    2626  0.0  0.0   652  136 ?        Ss   Nov09   0:00 /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchind
root      2639  0.0  0.0  2516  264 tty1     Ss+  Nov09   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty1
root      2640  0.0  0.0  2516  264 tty2     Ss+  Nov09   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
root      2641  0.0  0.0  2516  264 tty3     Ss+  Nov09   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty3
root      2642  0.0  0.0  2516  264 tty4     Ss+  Nov09   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty4
root      2643  0.0  0.0  2516  264 tty5     Ss+  Nov09   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty5
root      2644  0.0  0.0  2516  264 tty6     Ss+  Nov09   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty6
root      2645  0.0  0.0  2516  264 ttyS0    Ss+  Nov09   0:00 /sbin/mingetty ttyS0 CON9600 vt102
root     15399  0.0  0.1 80672 1724 ?        S    Nov29   0:02 chkservd
named    15892  0.0  0.0 54700  600 ?        Ssl  Nov29   0:00 /usr/sbin/named -u named
classifi 24575  0.0  0.0 37724  376 ?        SN   Nov30   0:00 cpanellogd - http logs for classifi
classifi 24768  0.0  0.0  2380  280 ?        SN   Nov30   0:00 /usr/local/cpanel/bin/logrunner 1.0 /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/an
classifi 24769  0.4 67.6 2326112 650384 ?    RN   Nov30   4:34 /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/analog +CIMAGEDIR /images/ +CDOMAINSFI
mailman   9131  0.0  0.0 44904  688 ?        Ss   Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/mailmanctl -s
mailman   9132  0.0  0.1 42488 1140 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailman   9133  0.0  0.1 42616 1192 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailman   9134  0.0  0.1 42532 1160 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailman   9135  0.0  0.1 42496 1188 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailman   9136  0.0  0.1 42620 1152 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailman   9137  0.0  0.1 42532 1168 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailman   9138  0.0  0.1 42608 1156 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailman   9139  0.0  0.1 42604 1116 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/bin/qrunner --runn
mailnull  9209  0.0  0.0 29036  404 ?        Ss   Nov30   0:00 /usr/sbin/exim -bd -q60m
mailnull  9213  0.0  0.0 29036  384 ?        Ss   Nov30   0:00 /usr/sbin/exim -tls-on-connect -bd -oX 465
root      9224  0.0  0.1 66740 1652 ?        Ss   Nov30   0:01 /usr/bin/spamd -d --allowed-ips=127.0.0.1 --pidfile=/var/run/spamd.pi
root      9245  0.0  0.0 12400  640 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 antirelayd
root      9248  0.0  0.1 67148 1448 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 spamd child
root      9249  0.0  0.1 67148 1432 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 spamd child
root      9268  0.0  0.0 33660  364 ?        S    Nov30   0:00 cppop - accepting on port 110
root      9475  0.0  0.0 104320 428 ?        Ss   Nov30   0:00 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
nobody    9481  0.0  0.1 113256 1312 ?       S    Nov30   0:03 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
nobody    9482  0.0  0.2 113272 2136 ?       S    Nov30   0:03 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
nobody    9483  0.0  1.2 113260 11696 ?      S    Nov30   0:06 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
nobody    9484  0.0  0.2 113268 2228 ?       S    Nov30   0:02 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
nobody    9485  0.0  0.1 122256 1736 ?       S    Nov30   0:04 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
nobody    9532  0.0  0.1 113252 1676 ?       S    Nov30   0:02 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
cpanel   11422  0.0  0.0 19544  336 ?        Ss   01:08   0:00 /usr/bin/stunnel-4.04local /usr/local/cpanel/etc/stunnel/default/stun
root     11445  0.0  0.1 39128 1772 ?        S    01:09   0:00 cpsrvd - waiting for connections
nobody   12334  0.0  0.1 113264 1828 ?       S    04:26   0:05 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
nobody   12335  0.0  0.1 113560 1892 ?       S    04:26   0:02 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL
root     13091  0.0  0.0 38140  472 ?        Ss   05:23   0:00 sshd: root@pts/0
root     13093  0.0  0.0 53976  444 pts/0    Ss   05:23   0:00 -bash
root     13190  0.0  0.0  6428  424 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --pid-file=/var
mysql    13210  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13211  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13212  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13213  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13214  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13215  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13218  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13219  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13220  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
mysql    13221  0.0  0.3 55824 3800 ?        S    05:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --
root     13278  0.0  0.0 59652  844 pts/0    S+   05:36   0:00 /usr/bin/perl /scripts/easyapache
root     13293  0.0  0.0 52764  432 pts/0    S+   05:36   0:00 sh buildapache.sea
root     13345  0.0  0.0 52760  428 pts/0    S+   05:36   0:00 /bin/sh ./bs
root     13347  0.0  0.1 59916 1012 pts/0    S+   05:36   0:00 /usr/bin/perl ./buildapache
root     13357  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    05:36   0:00 [pdflush]
root     13425  0.0  0.0 52764  424 pts/0    S+   05:41   0:00 sh -c ./lxdialog/lxdialog --title "Main Menu" --backtitle "Apache Con
root     13426  0.0  0.0 51492  424 pts/0    S+   05:41   0:00 ./lxdialog/lxdialog --title Main Menu --backtitle Apache Configuratio
root     13434  0.0  0.1 38288 1192 ?        Ss   05:44   0:00 sshd: root@pts/1
root     13452  0.0  0.1 53976 1240 pts/1    Ss   05:45   0:00 -bash
root     13596  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        S    06:13   0:00 [pdflush]
root     13614  0.0  0.0  5440  792 pts/1    R+   06:18   0:00 ps auxw

Code (markup):

 

Whatever it is doing it isn't showing up as a process so I'm guessing it's filesystem io.

Get the sysstat package if you don't already have it and run iostat. Look at the %iowait% value, at idle it shouldn't be many percent.

Possible it could be related to the buildapache.sea that is running, seems that is some apache upgrade thing from cpanel?

 

I think it may be the hosting company trying to solve the problem via configuration modifications (but I'm not sure and won't know until after 8:00am EST ).

 

Ok,

Just for comparison this is my iostat output from my celeron 2.4GHz, running apache and spamd:

%user %nice %sys %iowait %idle
4.38 0.00 0.65 0.00 94.97

 

Shift+M for memory.

That looks like CPU. If it isn't, Shift+P.

 

Could well be that the storage for your server is on a busy NFS server. Load is calculated by number of processes waiting in the queue - if disk access is slow then it will show a high value.

I've also seen this happen before with the crappy Dell 'raid monitoring' tools they used to ship - I couldn't see these listed in your ps output though, so I don't think this is the cause on this occasion.

 

I gave up, canceled order and got a machine from different hosting company.

I couldn't justify the time it was taking to determine the problem and I was too concerned about putting a high traffic site on a machine that had problems when it was idling.

Thanks to all for the suggestions and input

 

It is something waiting on IO, since the cpu is 99% free. Could be fine actually. Depends on what the processes is doing. This does not happent to be a Centos 4.2 box with cpanel does it?

 

honestly it was probably totally fine....

 

I had this same problem on a server earlier today. It turned out to be the Dell RAID array which was still building. Once it finished building the load returned to zero

Like Shoemoney says, there was probably never anything wrong with it.

 

Analog is using up a lot of memory. It's probably because you moved over your previous log files too and it's now processing them.

Do a
ps aux | grep analog

and see if analog is still running. Could be a problem with analog configuration.

 

I disagree. I have had a lot of dedicated servers and the new ones had very low load levels as expected. I have a dual 2.4 GHZ machine with 2gb of ram that has loads in the range shown in the original post - and that server has 50 client sites on it.

 

I don't know what the problem was but the load on the new dedicated machine is fine.

The other one may have resolved itself (or not been an issue) had I been patient - but time is money