what is Load Average？
Load Average: the system load is a measure of the amount of work that a computer system is doing.
Load Average is the average load over a period of time (1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes).
How to view the Load Average？
Usually we can use the w command to view.
Of course, you can also use the uptime command or the top command.
Linux w command
➜ ~ w
Linux uptime command
➜ ~ uptime
Linux top command
➜ ~ top
Linux iostat command
➜ ~ iostat 
What is the specific meaning of the above three figures?
First 2.29: Indicates the average load for the last 1 minute Second 3.24: Indicates the average load for the last 5 minute Third 2.93: Indicates the average load for the last 15 minute
What does this set of numbers stand for?
When the CPU is completely idle, the average load is 0; when the CPU workload is saturated, the average load is 1.
Some interpretations:
- If the averages are 0.0, then your system is idle.
- If the 1 minute average is higher than the 5 or 15 minute averages, then load is increasing.
- If the 1 minute average is lower than the 5 or 15 minute averages, then load is decreasing.
- If they are higher than your CPU count, then you might have a performance problem (it depends).
- If the averages of only 1 minute is greater than 1.0, 5 minutes and 15 minutes are less than 1.0, which indicates that it is only a temporary phenomenon and the problem is not serious.
More about Linux commands: Linux Commands Tutorial