CPU high due to scheduling
The Linux scheduler is efficient, but when the run queue is constantly overloaded, scheduling decisions start consuming meaningful CPU.
Evidence to look for
Run queue length consistently exceeds core count
Context switch rates are elevated
Load average exceeds the number of cores
What it usually means
The scheduler is spending time deciding what to run next, which takes away from actually running work.
What to do next
- 1Reduce the total number of runnable tasks
- 2Separate workloads onto different hosts or cgroups
- 3Reduce background job overlap with foreground work
See what's causing your CPU
cpum.ai turns CPU, process, disk, and memory signals into plain-English explanations with evidence.
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