[ale] VM load average stays around 4.5 and jumps as high as 8 or 9

[Brian Mathis]

CentOS 5 uses a default timer interrupt frequency of 1000Hz.  This
puts a bit of a load on the host system, and can be changed to 100Hz
with no issues.

To change this value, update the kernel line in /etc/grub.conf with
the parameter "divider=10", like this:
    kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-274.3.1.el5 ro root=/dev/sda1 divider=10
and reboot.  You will probably notice your host to be a bit more
responsive, and if you're on a laptop your battery life should improve
when running the VM.

VMware has an article about this if you want more information:
   http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1005802


❧ Brian Mathis


On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 11:39 AM, Geoffrey Myers
<lists at serioustechnology.com> wrote:
> So, I've got a Centos VM that is installed on Mac.  I had a Mac OSX
> update and a gcc update on the VM.
>
> Now my load average sits at 4.5 and every now and then jumps to 8 or 9.
>  when it does that, the VM freezes until it drops back down.
>
> Any clues as to what is causing this?  I'm sure the gcc is not an issue.
>  Do I need to reinstall virtual box?
>
> --
> Until later, Geoffrey