USER in TOP

[Christian Briddon]

Hi there,

We use an HP L Class server and when looking at top the USER column goes up and down like a yo-yo. One minute it will be at 20% and then it will jump to 98%, then back to 15%.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me exactly what USER is showing and why it would be going up and down all the time. Also, any ideas how to settle it down?

Thanks in advance
Christian Briddon

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi,

If you are seeing user mode CPU going up, then the CPU is really being used. Look at the top processes and the %CPU in the same top output.
If you are using some in-house built application, then you may have to check with your developers. Calls like exec(), fork() will cause the memory as well the CPU bursts when they spawn child processes.

-Sri