June 2023

Web Host Manager (WHM) is a web-based tool used by server administrators and resellers to manage hosting accounts on a web server. Load averages refer to the average system load over a period of time, and it’s a key performance metric for server health.

Load averages are generally represented as three numbers corresponding to system load over the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes. For example, a load average of 0.03, 0.02, 0.00 means the average load over the last one minute was 0.03, over the last five minutes was 0.02, and over the last fifteen minutes was 0.00.

Here’s what to consider “normal” in terms of load averages:

1. If the load average is less than the number of logical CPUs, it means the system is handling the current processes well.
2. If the load average is equal to the number of logical CPUs, it means the system is at capacity.
3. If the load average is higher than the number of logical CPUs, it means that there’s more demand than your system can handle, which is a situation that could result in sluggishness or even outages.

For example, if you have a server with 4 logical CPUs, then a load average of 4.00 indicates a fully loaded, but not overloaded, system. If the load average were consistently higher than 4.00, that would indicate your server is constantly overloaded and may require upgrading or optimizing.

It’s important to note that occasional spikes above your number of CPUs is not necessarily a cause for concern if they’re not sustained, as it could be due to temporary demand. The concern comes when the load average is consistently high.

That being said, these are general rules and depending on the specific workloads and services running on the server, it might be normal to have a higher load. For example, some workloads are designed to create a backlog and use up all the available CPU time. This means it is always good to understand what is running on your server and what its expected behavior should be.

So, “normal” load averages are relative to your specific server’s hardware and what it’s being used for. The most important aspect is to monitor it regularly and understand the typical load for your specific situation.