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I have installed an Ubuntu server 16.04 in a VM from vultr (my plan is 2 CPU, 4GB RAM) and I noticed today in the admin panel that the CPU usage the last month is over 100% (currently is in 103%).

In the server a web server is deployed (Apache) and some small WordPress sites are hosted.

How is possible to use over 100% than you have? Is this a sign that I should upgrade to a higher plan with more resources?

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yaylitzis
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  • Depends how that data is gathered. If it's based on load average, it could mean something like that you're using half of each CPU/core, or it could mean one's maxed out and the other's mostly idle. Take a look at `top`. – ceejayoz Nov 28 '17 at 14:18

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If you should be worried or not depends on what the data represents. If it's per cpu then you have a "100%" for every cpu. Say, if the server it's a quad processor you could have a total load of 400%.

That said, it's possible to have an overload or spikes because the processes are putted on queue. Here you ave a simple but good reading

http://blog.scoutapp.com/articles/2009/07/31/understanding-load-averages

A single-core CPU is like a single lane of traffic. Imagine you are a bridge operator ... sometimes your bridge is so busy there are cars lined up to cross. You want to let folks know how traffic is moving on your bridge. A decent metric would be how many cars are waiting at a particular time. If no cars are waiting, incoming drivers know they can drive across right away. If cars are backed up, drivers know they're in for delays.

Before upgrading i would check top and optimize apache and php processes.

Federico Galli
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If you have multiple CPU then 100% usage might show information for one CPU only, so in your case maximum should be 200%.

If your sites are loading fast and responsive and you do not anticipate increase of visitors - no need to upgrade right now.

Martynas Saint
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