[CentOS] Load Average ~0.40 when idle

[listmail]

On Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:26:24 -0400, Dan Halbert wrote
> listmail wrote:
> > Good suggestion. Disconnecting the Ethernet cables from the NICs did not
> > make a difference. However, shutting down the interfaces (e.g ifdown eth0,
> > ifdown eth1) did cut the load average down to nothing (0.00).
> >
> > So it wasn't actual traffic, but something that the interfaces were doing,
> > or something that was trying to talk to one or both of them.
> >   
> That's interesting. A few ideas (I'm just trying divide and conquer 
> here -- I don't have a hypothesis):
> 1. See if it's one interface or the other. Does just shutting down 
> one make a difference?
>
Nope. If either one is up, I see the load run up. Ethernet connected or not.

> 2. Use tcpdump on the interface to see what's going on there, even 
> when the cables are disconnected. (I may be wrong about seeing 
> anything when it's disconnected; you may not see any traffic if the 
> driver knows nothing can go out.)
>
Can't see any traffic with the interfaces up and the Ethernet connected.

> 3. Do "chkconfig --list" to find out which services are on, and shut 
> them down one by one to see if one is the offender. 
>
I shut off everything, and the problem remained until I at last shut off
the network service.

Thanks for the ideas - I'm beginning to suspect a bug in the kernel or the
timer code.

--Bill