RHEL Linux - Red Hat System Administration Practice Exam

Linux implements which calculation as a representation of expected service wait times for CPU, disk, and network I/O?

1. Active requests

2. Exponential moving average

3. Load average

4. Background processes

The correct answer is: Load average

The correct choice is the load average, which provides a representation of the expected service wait times for CPU, disk, and network I/O in a Linux environment. Load average calculations help system administrators understand the demand on their system resources over a period of time. Load average is defined as the average number of processes that are in the runnable state or waiting for disk I/O. It is explicitly shown as three values that correspond to 1, 5, and 15 minutes averages, indicating how system load evolves over short and longer periods. This information is crucial for assessing system performance and can help identify potential bottlenecks or over-utilization scenarios. While active requests, exponential moving average, and background processes are relevant concepts in system performance and management, they serve different roles. Active requests refer to the processes currently demanding CPU or I/O resources. The exponential moving average is a statistical technique used to smooth variations in data but doesn’t directly represent system load. Background processes pertain to tasks that run without direct user interaction but do not provide an overall measure of system wait times or load. Therefore, load average is distinctly recognized for its ability to succinctly summarize service wait times for critical system resources.