[NTLUG:Discuss] Server load average - what is it?

[Richard Geoffrion]

'w', uptime, procinfo and others will show a system load average in 1,5, and
10 minute increments.

but what do the numbers mean??? does a 1.00 mean 100% utilization?? if so.
what does 1.70 mean?  or even 4.77?

Surely they don't mean 170% utilization.   Maybe it means that the server is
70% overutilized.  Or maybe  1.7% of total capacity??  Of course that's not
the case because at 4.77, my server comes to a grinding crawl.. (three
dirvish jobs looped each other one weekend....oops.)

anyway... I've googled for system load average explained..and no one is
explaining what the numbers MEAN...meaning what the scale is a scale OF.

thx.

-- 
Richard