A question about server load

[MoMan]

We have a server optmization forum take the time to look at it.

Thanks! Forgot about that!

[Zachery]

We have a server optmization forum take the time to look at it.

[MoMan]

I've now enabled mod_deflate as well as mod_memcache and the site contents are being gzipped.

Do you recommend any particular changes to my.cnf and httpd.cnf?

[MoMan]

Would installing gzip and following (1) and (4) from this page be worth my while?

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=340239

[MoMan]

Have you had your server optimized? T he default mysql configuration would grind a supercomputer into the ground.

No I have not. Unfortunately I do not have much experience with MySQL config, but I do know how to modify it. Do you have any pointers as to where to start?

That would probably explain why it took less than a minute to tgz my entire 15-gig website, yet the load is over 1 during normal use.

[Zachery]

Have you had your server optimized? T he default mysql configuration would grind a supercomputer into the ground.

[MoMan]

The server is dedicated, so it sounds like I'm in good shape. I ran a full site backup in the background today, and it didn't seem to impact the front-end forum performance.

[Zachery]

Server load is shared though the ENTIRE server. Its not just your site. 1 on a single server means the system is being taxed but its oky. It means there is one process per cycled being handled. 2-4 is normally fine.

[MoMan]

I've recently noticed an increase in my forum's server load, and I'd just like to make sure the server isn't being overburdened. The forum isn't slow or anything, but I'd prefer to confirm

My typical load ranges from 0.30 at night (300-400 users) to 1.10 at peak times during the day (700-1000 users). When running server-intensive processes such as mysqldump, the load goes up to somewhere in the 2-4 range.

From what I've read on Wikipedia, load simply expresses the average number of threads over the past x minutes. Is this correct?

My server has a dual quad-core Xeon 'nehalem' processor. Because of this, is the theoretical 100% load 8.00 (or even 16.00 if you factor in hyper-threading/turbo-boost?)?