What is load average (LA)? What values are critical?

Load Average (LA) — is the average system load over specific time intervals (usually 1, 5, and 15 minutes). It indicates the average number of processes that are either running on the CPU or waiting in the queue to be executed.

The criticality of the values depends on the number of available CPUs (cores):

• If LA is approximately equal to the number of cores — the system is fully loaded but not overloaded.
• If LA significantly exceeds the number of cores — processes are waiting in line, and the system is overloaded.

For example, on a server with 4 cores, LA = 4 indicates normal load, LA = 8 indicates high load, and possible delays.

It is important to note that LA does not show which specific processes are burdening the system, only the total number of active and waiting processes.