Quad core server with high server load while low amount of websites

PRB

Verified User
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
162
Hi,

I have a nice quadcore server with 2GB ram:
Processor Name Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3210 @ 2.13GHz
Vendor ID GenuineIntel
Processor Speed (MHz) 1600.000
Processor Name Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3210 @ 2.13GHz
Vendor ID GenuineIntel
Processor Speed (MHz) 1600.000
Processor Name Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3210 @ 2.13GHz
Vendor ID GenuineIntel
Processor Speed (MHz) 2133.000
Processor Name Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3210 @ 2.13GHz
Vendor ID GenuineIntel
Processor Speed (MHz) 2133.000
Total Memory 2074192 kB
Free Memory 66140 kB

This is my 6th server and compared to my dual cores, I barely have any users on this server.

However, the server load compared to my dual cores: Load Average 8.92, 6.44, 5.45

The service monitor gives me this:
directadmin directadmin (pid 2367 2368 2394 2461 2465 3163 )
dovecot dovecot (pid 2750 )
exim exim (pid 3182 )
httpd httpd (pid 1315 1403 1886 2187 2202 2287 2298 2339 2378 2408 2561 2562 2563 )
lfd lfd (pid 2794 )
mysqld mysqld (pid 2240 2262 2279 2371 2384 2386 2421 2509 30720 30721 30722 30723 30724 30725 30731 30732 30733 30734 )
named named (pid 5027 )
proftpd proftpd (pid 3590 )
sshd sshd (pid 1361 )

So my first thought is this may be due to MySQL

top command gives me this:
top - 11:02:40 up 1 day, 14:51, 1 user, load average: 6.17, 6.35, 5.61
Tasks: 178 total, 1 running, 176 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu(s): 3.0%us, 0.3%sy, 0.0%ni, 96.6%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.1%si, 0.0%st
Mem: 2074192k total, 1991080k used, 83112k free, 264468k buffers
Swap: 4192924k total, 92k used, 4192832k free, 1392752k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
2935 apache 15 0 36392 19m 3044 S 1 1.0 0:00.07 httpd
2378 apache 15 0 0 0 0 Z 0 0.0 0:00.87 httpd <defunct>
2597 apache 15 0 37268 20m 3240 S 0 1.0 0:00.07 httpd
2824 apache 15 0 35744 19m 3068 S 0 0.9 0:00.26 httpd
2928 apache 15 0 35556 19m 3020 S 0 0.9 0:00.01 httpd
1 root 15 0 2064 676 584 S 0 0.0 0:01.30 init
2 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.02 migration/0
3 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ksoftirqd/0
4 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/0
5 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.03 migration/1
6 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ksoftirqd/1
7 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/1
8 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.03 migration/2
9 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ksoftirqd/2
10 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/2
11 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.03 migration/3
12 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ksoftirqd/3

and some more:

lfd on XRD006.local: High 5 minute load average alert - 6.08
Code:
Output from ps:
USER       PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
 root         1  0.0  0.0   2064   676 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:01 init [3]                   
 root         2  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [migration/0]
 root         3  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        SN   Apr14   0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
 root         4  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [watchdog/0]
 root         5  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [migration/1]
 root         6  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        SN   Apr14   0:00 [ksoftirqd/1]
 root         7  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [watchdog/1]
 root         8  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [migration/2]
 root         9  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        SN   Apr14   0:00 [ksoftirqd/2]
 root        10  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [watchdog/2]
 root        11  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [migration/3]
 root        12  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        SN   Apr14   0:00 [ksoftirqd/3]
 root        13  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [watchdog/3]
 root        14  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [events/0]
 root        15  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [events/1]
 root        16  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [events/2]
 root        17  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [events/3]
 root        18  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [khelper]
 root        19  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [kthread]
 root        25  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kblockd/0]
 root        26  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kblockd/1]
 root        27  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kblockd/2]
 root        28  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kblockd/3]
 root        29  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kacpid]
 root       132  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [cqueue/0]
 root       133  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [cqueue/1]
 root       134  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [cqueue/2]
 root       135  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [cqueue/3]
 root       138  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [khubd]
 root       140  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kseriod]
 root       218  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:04  \_ [kswapd0]
 root       219  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [aio/0]
 root       220  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [aio/1]
 root       221  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [aio/2]
 root       222  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [aio/3]
 root       385  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kpsmoused]
 root       448  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_0]
 root       454  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [ata/0]
 root       455  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [ata/1]
 root       456  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [ata/2]
 root       457  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [ata/3]
 root       458  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [ata_aux]
 root       464  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_1]
 root       465  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_2]
 root       466  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_3]
 root       467  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_4]
 root       468  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        D<   Apr14   0:43  \_ [kjournald]
 root       495  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kauditd]
 root      1644  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kmpathd/0]
 root      1645  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kmpathd/1]
 root      1646  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kmpathd/2]
 root      1647  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kmpathd/3]
 root      1920  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kondemand/0]
 root      1921  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kondemand/1]
 root      1922  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kondemand/2]
 root      1923  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00  \_ [kondemand/3]
 root     15969  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        D    03:03   0:00  \_ [pdflush]
 root     15990  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    03:04   0:00  \_ [pdflush]
 root       529  0.0  0.0   2248   656 ?        S<s  Apr14   0:00 /sbin/udevd -d
 root      2303  0.0  0.0  13176   764 ?        S<sl Apr14   0:06 auditd
 root      2305  0.0  0.0  13080   916 ?        S<sl Apr14   0:01  \_ /sbin/audispd
 root      2400  0.0  0.0   1716   576 ?        Ds   Apr14   0:01 syslogd -m 0
 root      2403  0.0  0.0   1672   408 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 klogd -x
 root      2419  0.0  0.0   2428   376 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 irqbalance
 rpc       2453  0.0  0.0   1804   552 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 portmap
 root      2490  0.0  0.0   1848   728 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 rpc.statd
 root      2537  0.0  0.0   5020   556 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 rpc.idmapd
 dbus      2565  0.0  0.0   2752   936 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 dbus-daemon --system
 root      2580  0.0  0.0   2144   760 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 /usr/sbin/hcid
 root      2584  0.0  0.0   1736   508 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 /usr/sbin/sdpd
 root      2616  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   Apr14   0:00 [krfcommd]
 root      2664  0.0  0.0  12848  1348 ?        Ssl  Apr14   0:00 pcscd
 root      2689  0.0  0.0   1908   460 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 /usr/bin/hidd --server
 root      2712  0.0  0.0  14708  1360 ?        Ssl  Apr14   0:00 automount
 root      2735  0.0  0.0   1664   532 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 /usr/sbin/acpid
 root      2750  0.0  0.0   1868   568 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:01 dovecot
 root      2767  0.0  0.0   2832  1560 ?        S    Apr14   0:02  \_ dovecot-auth
 dovecot  32351  0.0  0.0   4428  1660 ?        S    09:24   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   2611  0.0  0.0   4416  1652 ?        S    09:35   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   3424  0.0  0.0   4420  1660 ?        S    09:36   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   3599  0.0  0.0   4416  1656 ?        S    09:37   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   3765  0.0  0.0   4420  1660 ?        S    09:38   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot  14366  0.0  0.0   4428  1664 ?        S    09:50   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot  20760  0.0  0.0   4416  1656 ?        S    09:51   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot  20768  0.0  0.0   4428  1664 ?        S    09:51   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot  21420  0.0  0.0   4428  1664 ?        S    09:52   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot  21463  0.0  0.0   4428  1656 ?        S    09:53   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot  21507  0.0  0.0   4424  1656 ?        S    09:54   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot  22395  0.0  0.0   4424  1700 ?        S    09:55   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot  32152  0.0  0.0   4416  1652 ?        S    10:29   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot  32195  0.0  0.0   4416  1656 ?        S    10:29   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot  32200  0.0  0.0   4416  1656 ?        S    10:29   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot  32354  0.0  0.0   4420  1656 ?        S    10:30   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot    487  0.0  0.0   4416  1656 ?        S    10:38   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot    577  0.0  0.0   4424  1660 ?        S    10:39   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot    960  0.0  0.0   4428  1664 ?        S    10:41   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   1428  0.0  0.0   4420  1660 ?        S    10:44   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   1541  0.0  0.0   4420  1660 ?        S    10:46   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   1659  0.0  0.0   4420  1660 ?        S    10:48   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   1914  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    10:51   0:00  \_ [pop3-login] <defunct>
 dovecot   1926  0.0  0.0   4420  1660 ?        S    10:51   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   1944  0.0  0.0   4424  1656 ?        S    10:51   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   1985  0.0  0.0   4416  1688 ?        S    10:52   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 dovecot   2017  0.0  0.0   4428  1656 ?        S    10:52   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   2074  0.0  0.0   4428  1664 ?        S    10:53   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   2157  0.0  0.0   4428  1664 ?        S    10:55   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   2183  0.0  0.0   4424  1656 ?        S    10:55   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   2194  0.0  0.0   4424  1660 ?        S    10:55   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   2265  0.0  0.0   4424  1656 ?        S    10:56   0:00  \_ imap-login
 dovecot   2396  0.0  0.0   4420  1656 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ pop3-login
 hoes      2422  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    10:57   0:00  \_ [pop3] <defunct>
 root      2784  0.0  0.0   9688  1952 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 cupsd
 root      2832  0.0  0.0   2716   852 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 xinetd -stayalive -pidfile /var/run/xinetd.pid
 root      3148  0.0  0.0   3144   560 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 /usr/local/directadmin/da-popb4smtp
 nobody    3163  0.0  0.0   8396  1292 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:01 /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin d
 nobody    2334  0.0  0.0   8396   552 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin d
 nobody    2337  0.0  0.0   8396   552 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin d
 nobody    2367  0.0  0.0   8396   552 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin d
 nobody    2368  0.0  0.0   8396   552 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin d
 nobody    2394  0.0  0.0   8396   552 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin d
 mail      3182  0.0  0.0   8376  1048 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 /usr/sbin/exim -bd -q15m -oP /var/run/exim.pid
 root      3228  0.0  0.0   1900   372 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 gpm -m /dev/input/mice -t exps2
 ftp       3590  0.0  0.1   5608  2136 ?        SLs  Apr14   0:00 proftpd: (accepting connections)
 root      3607  0.0  0.0   5264  1120 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 crond
 617       2216  0.0  0.0   5840  1504 ?        S    10:56   0:00  \_ crond
 617       2224  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Zs   10:56   0:00  |   \_ [php] <defunct>
 mail      2225  0.0  0.1   8384  2080 ?        S    10:56   0:00  |   \_ /usr/sbin/sendmail -FCronDaemon -i -odi -oem -oi -t
 mail      2395  0.0  0.1   8384  2472 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00  |       \_ /usr/sbin/exim -odi -Mc 1LuNO5-0000Zt-JG
 mail      2397  0.0  0.1   8384  2076 ?        D    10:57   0:00  |           \_ /usr/sbin/exim -odi -t -oem -oi -f <> -E1LuNO5-0000Zt-JG
 617       2325  0.0  0.0   5840  1504 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ crond
 617       2332  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Zs   10:57   0:00      \_ [php] <defunct>
 mail      2333  0.0  0.1   8380  2080 ?        D    10:57   0:00      \_ /usr/sbin/sendmail -FCronDaemon -i -odi -oem -oi -t
 xfs       3651  0.0  0.0   3468  1336 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 xfs -droppriv -daemon
 root      3685  0.0  0.0   2244   436 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 /usr/sbin/atd
 avahi     3729  0.0  0.0   2572  1356 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 avahi-daemon: running [XRD006.local]
 avahi     3737  0.0  0.0   2572   312 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00  \_ avahi-daemon: chroot helper
 68        3793  0.0  0.1   5720  3948 ?        Ss   Apr14   0:00 hald
 root      3794  0.0  0.0   3132   976 ?        S    Apr14   0:00  \_ hald-runner
 68        3821  0.0  0.0   1996   796 ?        S    Apr14   0:00      \_ hald-addon-acpi: listening on acpid socket /var/run/acpid.socket
 68        3831  0.0  0.0   1992   780 ?        S    Apr14   0:00      \_ hald-addon-keyboard: listening on /dev/input/event0
 root      3913  0.0  0.0   1932   356 ?        S    Apr14   0:00 /usr/sbin/smartd -q never
 root      3916  0.0  0.0   1652   428 tty1     Ss+  Apr14   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty1
 root      3917  0.0  0.0   1656   432 tty2     Ss+  Apr14   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
 root      3918  0.0  0.0   1656   432 tty3     Ss+  Apr14   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty3
 root      3919  0.0  0.0   1656   432 tty4     Ss+  Apr14   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty4
 root      3922  0.0  0.0   1652   428 tty5     Ss+  Apr14   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty5
 root      3924  0.0  0.0   1652   428 tty6     Ss+  Apr14   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty6
 root      3986  0.0  0.5  25604 10456 ?        SN   Apr14   0:02 /usr/bin/python -tt /usr/sbin/yum-updatesd
 root      4000  0.0  0.0   2552  1132 ?        SN   Apr14   0:00 /usr/libexec/gam_server
 named     5027  0.0  0.2  70680  6020 ?        Ssl  Apr14   0:34 named -u named
 ntp        411  0.0  0.2   4376  4376 ?        SLs  Apr15   0:00 ntpd -u ntp:ntp -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -g
 root     30698  0.0  0.0   4524  1216 ?        S    Apr15   0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid
 mysql    30720  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:01  \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30721  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:02      \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30722  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30723  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30724  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30725  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30731  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30732  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30733  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        D    Apr15   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql    30734  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    Apr15   0:12          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2205  0.1  1.1  39120 24776 ?        D    10:55   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2240  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:56   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2252  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:56   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2262  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:56   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2279  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:56   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2308  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:56   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2371  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:57   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2384  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:57   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2386  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:57   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2411  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:57   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2413  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:57   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 mysql     2421  0.0  1.1  39120 24776 ?        S    10:57   0:00          \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/XRD006.local.pid --skip-external-locking
 root      2794  0.0  0.4  13692  9600 ?        Ss   00:00   0:09 lfd - sleeping
 root      2423  0.0  0.4  13692  8596 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ lfd - (child) checking load...
 root      2424  0.0  0.0   4212   924 ?        R    10:57   0:00      \_ /bin/ps axuf
 root      1315  0.0  0.9  35080 19392 ?        Ss   10:44   0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    1403  0.1  1.3  45484 27888 ?        S    10:44   0:01  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    1547  0.2  1.4  46392 29188 ?        S    10:46   0:01  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    1886  0.2  1.1  42408 24696 ?        S    10:51   0:01  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2187  0.0  0.9  35652 19228 ?        S    10:55   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2202  0.4  1.4  47080 29300 ?        S    10:55   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2287  0.3  1.0  39392 21284 ?        S    10:56   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2295  0.0  0.9  35644 19280 ?        S    10:56   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2298  0.4  1.1  41616 23748 ?        S    10:56   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2339  0.5  1.0  39124 21464 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2378  0.0  0.8  35080 18380 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2402  0.0  0.9  35648 19176 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 apache    2408  0.0  0.9  35648 19232 ?        S    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/httpd -k start -DSSL
 root      1361  0.0  0.0   7012  1012 ?        Ss   10:44   0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd
 root      2414  0.0  0.1  10792  3592 ?        S    10:57   0:00 /usr/sbin/exim -Mc 1LuNOL-0000a7-8u
 chnzewry  2416  0.0  0.0  10804  1348 ?        D    10:57   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/exim -Mc 1LuNOL-0000a7-8u

I know the problem isnt from Apache because /serverstatus show me this:
Current Time: Thursday, 16-Apr-2009 11:04:33 CEST
Restart Time: Thursday, 16-Apr-2009 10:44:03 CEST
Parent Server Generation: 0
Server uptime: 20 minutes 30 seconds
Total accesses: 3195 - Total Traffic: 14.2 MB
CPU Usage: u4.02 s.42 cu0 cs0 - .361% CPU load
2.6 requests/sec - 11.8 kB/second - 4646 B/request
3 requests currently being processed, 9 idle workers

Which compared to my dual cores is nothing. Can someone give me hints? Im learning fast :)
 
This is pretty strange, usually when the load is that high you can tell what the culprit is from top quite easily. However, even with a low number of apache gets this could still be the problem, roundcube, for example, used to cause apache's CPU usage to shoot up when it loaded large images. My advice would be to disable certain services for a few minutes at a time and monitor the load value to see if it decreases, this may be a pain for users but is a necessity. Alternatively, reboot the server, disable all unneeded services and monitor the load from here.
 
Alright, I'll try that tonight. Also, all software is updated to the latest version, except Named (I cant find how to update Named). I assume that isnt the problem? I don't even know what named is.

Any one else having suggestions?
 
Try htop instead of top. If you are not seeing it in top or htop you might have hidden processes installed via a rootkit.
 
I spent like 40 minutes to trying to figure out how to install htop. No success.

yum install htop
Loading "fastestmirror" plugin
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: centosb2.centos.org
* updates: centose.centos.org
* addons: centose.centos.org
* extras: centose.centos.org
Excluding Packages in global exclude list
Finished
Setting up Install Process
Parsing package install arguments
No package htop available.
Nothing to do
 
Alright, just disabled httpd and monitored the server load through SSH with top

Server load did not drop below 2.00

Then I enabled httpd and disabled mysqld and monitored the server load through SSH with top

Server load dropped below 0.80 but directly after enabling mysqld, server load is going back up again, its at 2.63 right now. This means, as I expected, the server load is caused by mysqld, right? :)

thanks for helping me out, I will now see what I can do to fix this
 
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Alright, well, I'll keep posting in this topic so that if people come here through Google with a similar problem might find a solution, I hope other people on the forums dont mind :p

I updated MySQL from 5.0.66 (or something similar to that) to 5.0.77 through CustomBuild and the server load has been around or below 1.0 for like 5 minutes. Seems the problem got fixed, hopefully, I'll leave now and check tomorrow morning whether the server load still is low.

EDIT: Server load is at 3.37 again. Now I will try to reboot the server and see whether its fixed, dont have any other solution in my mind...
 
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Not sure if mytop would help to determined what's going on with mysql, but its worth a go.

Also tuning-primer.sh could be helpful to optimise your my.cnf file.
 
I would try mytop and also enable logging in mysql of slow queries. Tuning of your my.cnf file may also help. Also can enable apache extended-status to see what sites are being used the most.
 
Well, I solved this last night.

Load Average 0.01, 0.12, 0.24
With 208 domains hosted, thats pretty nice huh?

So how? I monitored top, I noticed the load was down for like 2 minute, and then went up for 2 minutes. And so on. So as soon as it went up, I went to phpmyadmin and logged in as da_admin and clicked "show processes" and I saw that some user was adding rows to some table. I suspended this user to see how the server load would go, and boom, it dropped below 0.4. I checked the script this guy had and his website, it was a script testing the server load and pushing it to its limit :rolleyes:

So I messaged him and told him his script is illegal as it causes too much server load and offered him a refund. Case closed, I learned alot of things again

thank you all!
 
I checked the script this guy had and his website, it was a script testing the server load and pushing it to its limit :rolleyes:
So, the script mustve been checking every second then saving to a database, that's all I can say.
 
Well, I wish it was once per second. It was inserting 140 queries per second into the database. The user asks me to unsuspend his account and he will now only do 20 queries per second.

Nah, I'll give him a refund. I'd rather lose him than have him.
 
Not sure if your already PRB but you can configure MySQL to limit certain user's privaliges to perform actions such as MAX QUERIES PER HOUR, MAX UPDATES PER HOUR, MAX CONNECTIONS PER HOUR and MAX USER_CONNECTIONS. These permissions can be configured manually or via phpmyadmin. In my opionion these restrictions work well at preventing a power hungry user lagging your system.
 
Not sure if your already PRB but you can configure MySQL to limit certain user's privaliges to perform actions such as MAX QUERIES PER HOUR, MAX UPDATES PER HOUR, MAX CONNECTIONS PER HOUR and MAX USER_CONNECTIONS. These permissions can be configured manually or via phpmyadmin. In my opionion these restrictions work well at preventing a power hungry user lagging your system.

Excellent, I did not know that!

One question from me: imagine his directadmin username is "john" and his mysql username is "john_test"

Inside phpMyAdmin, I went to "Permissions" and I clicked on "J" and found his username there. However, I saw two users there: "john" and "john_test".

I edited both and set the queries per hour to 40000. But what if he makes a new MySQL user? Isnt that a way to get around it?
 
Not sure if your already PRB but you can configure MySQL to limit certain user's privaliges to perform actions
Would be useful if these settings were configurable per new mysql user creating, something via Packages maybe, eliminating valuable time for us admins.
Or is there a way to set up defaults for new mysql users already?
 
COuld you tell me what httpd.conf and my.cnf do you have? I have the same problem - load is oround 2-3.

Thanks.
 
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