Server load high after optamization

[Redemption]

Ok I changed the MSQL file and the APACHE config as follows;

APACHE

Code:

Timeout 200
KeepAlive On
MaxKeepAliveRequests 200
KeepAliveTimeout 3
MinSpareServers 5
MaxSpareServers 15
StartServers 5
MaxClients 50 "They stated to make this 20 but it sounds to low a number?"
MaxRequestsPerChild 2000
HostnameLookups Off




MYSQL

[mysqld]
max_connections = 400
key_buffer = 16M
myisam_sort_buffer_size = 32M
join_buffer_size = 1M
read_buffer_size = 1M
sort_buffer_size = 2M
table_cache = 1024
thread_cache_size = 286
interactive_timeout = 25
wait_timeout = 1000
connect_timeout = 10
max_allowed_packet = 16M
max_connect_errors = 10
query_cache_limit = 1M
query_cache_size = 16M
query_cache_type = 1
tmp_table_size = 16M
skip-innodb

[mysqld_safe]
open_files_limit = 8192

[mysqldump]
quick
max_allowed_packet = 16M

[myisamchk]
key_buffer = 32M
sort_buffer = 32M
read_buffer = 16M
write_buffer = 16M

My original config was;

Mysql


[mysqld]
set-variable = max_connections=500
safe-show-database




APACHE

#
# Timeout: The number of seconds before receives and sends time out.
#
Timeout 300

#
# KeepAlive: Whether or not to allow persistent connections (more than
# one request per connection). Set to "Off" to deactivate.
#
KeepAlive On

#
# MaxKeepAliveRequests: The maximum number of requests to allow
# during a persistent connection. Set to 0 to allow an unlimited amount.
# We recommend you leave this number high, for maximum performance.
#
MaxKeepAliveRequests 100

#
# KeepAliveTimeout: Number of seconds to wait for the next request from the
# same client on the same connection.
#
KeepAliveTimeout 15

#
# Server-pool size regulation. Rather than making you guess how many
# server processes you need, Apache dynamically adapts to the load it
# sees --- that is, it tries to maintain enough server processes to
# handle the current load, plus a few spare servers to handle transient
# load spikes (e.g., multiple simultaneous requests from a single
# Netscape browser).
#
# It does this by periodically checking how many servers are waiting
# for a request. If there are fewer than MinSpareServers, it creates
# a new spare. If there are more than MaxSpareServers, some of the
# spares die off. The default values are probably OK for most sites.
#
MinSpareServers 5
MaxSpareServers 10

#
# Number of servers to start initially --- should be a reasonable ballpark
# figure.
#
StartServers 5

#
# Limit on total number of servers running, i.e., limit on the number
# of clients who can simultaneously connect --- if this limit is ever
# reached, clients will be LOCKED OUT, so it should NOT BE SET TOO LOW.
# It is intended mainly as a brake to keep a runaway server from taking
# the system with it as it spirals down...
#
MaxClients 150

#
# MaxRequestsPerChild: the number of requests each child process is
# allowed to process before the child dies. The child will exit so
# as to avoid problems after prolonged use when Apache (and maybe the
# libraries it uses) leak memory or other resources. On most systems, this
# isn't really needed, but a few (such as Solaris) do have notable leaks
# in the libraries. For these platforms, set to something like 10000
# or so; a setting of 0 means unlimited.
#
# NOTE: This value does not include keepalive requests after the initial
# request per connection. For example, if a child process handles
# an initial request and 10 subsequent "keptalive" requests, it
# would only count as 1 request towards this limit.
#
MaxRequestsPerChild 0

I see some improvement while surfing my website, however the server load now is much higher than I have ever seen it. Is the optimization supposed to cause higher server load?

I just checked mysql/cpu/,memory usqage on WHM and I get the following information;

mysite.net 10.88 0.00 0.4
Top Process %CPU 20.0 [php-cgi]
Top Process %CPU 17.0 [php-cgi]
Top Process %CPU 13.0 /usr/bin/php-cgi vbseo.php
myseccondsite.com 1.61 0.04 0.6
Top Process %CPU 6.5 /usr/bin/php-cgi cron.php
Top Process %CPU 1.2 /usr/bin/php-cgi cron.php
mysql 0.98 0.20 0.0
Top Process %CPU 1.0 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir/ --datadir/var/lib/mysql --usermysql --pid-file/var/lib/mysql/vps.myserver.com.pid --skip-external-locking
Top Process %CPU 0.9 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir/ --datadir/var/lib/mysql --usermysql --pid-file/var/lib/mysql/vps.myserver.com.pid --skip-external-locking
root 0.58 1.12 1.8
Top Process %CPU 0.8 /usr/bin/perl /scripts/restartsrv_clamd --check
n 0.00 0.00 0.0

Any Idea on how to reduce server load while keeping the sites fast? I am afraid that a backup will bring the VPS to its knees. Currently I have 537 mb I think of ram on the VPS.

[Gwaihir]

however the server load now is much higher than I have ever seen it. Is the optimization supposed to cause higher server load?

I just checked mysql/cpu/,memory usqage on WHM and I get the following information;

mysite.net 10.88 0.00 0.4

What makes you say load is high? I've not seen the insides of WHM, but this looks like it reports the standard *nix load averages (number of threads in queue) for the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes. If they are, the machine is not terribly loaded at all. It doesn't matter much what that first number spikes to, as long as the other two don't move.

I'm also not sure that on a VPS WHM is the place to look for such info. WHM doesn't know about the VPS situation. Doesn't the VPS's control panel come with such numbers as well? If so they will be much more reliable.

[Redemption]

WHM shows apache on red as servvice and virtuozzo shows the following usage of resources.

CPU Usage
Resource Capacity
CPU The resource is in Green Zone


4.0%
Load Average 0.44, 0.67, 0.76
System Usage
Resource Capacity
System The resource is in Green Zone



79.38%

I have never seen the system usage past 45 percent.

[Redemption]

I rebooted server and now it appears to be back to normal!

[Redemption]

Anyone has an idea what is this little criter? It is a mysql process but I am curious about the --skip-external-locking part.

/usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/vps.mysite.com.pid --skip-external-locking

It seems to eat up the most of my memory.

[JPC-Veena]

Redemption,

That is your mysql process, it is normal. Since you seem to have setup some mysql query caching and other optimizations for mysql, it is normal to see mysql on "top" eating up cpu. You will however notice the performance improvement.
The load averages you have posted is not at all high, it is very much normal:
Load Average 0.44, 0.67, 0.76

[Gwaihir]

It seems to eat up the most of my memory.

Ah! You count memory too when you speak of load and resource use! But one of the main things you've been doing is reducing the need for (slow) disk access by caching more things in memory instead. So, of course you're using more memory now. Looks like that memory is easily yours to spare, so no problem at all.