Excessive server load

Hello, I am having some difficulty with my server. Over the past week at least once a day my server load CPU spikes to around 200 and sits there... and although all services usually remain active in the green nothing can be reached. HTTP, e-mail... just FTP, SSH. It's happened more frequently over the past two days and the only thing that will fix it is having my host reboot the machine, as SSH and WHM are of no help for rebooting when this happens. I ran the top command in SSH but have no idea what it means or if it's telling me what's wrong:

08:11:44 up 10:24, 1 user, load average: 191.59, 190.13, 187.80
437 processes: 434 sleeping, 1 running, 1 zombie, 1 stopped
CPU states: cpu user nice system irq softirq iowait idle
total 0.4% 0.0% 2.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 97.1%
cpu00 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
cpu01 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
cpu02 1.7% 0.0% 9.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 88.4%
cpu03 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Mem: 1036880k av, 1007660k used, 29220k free, 0k shrd, 71980k buff
494400k active, 196124k inactive
Swap: 2040244k av, 0k used, 2040244k free 365736k cached

PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME CPU COMMAND
4495 root 17 0 5524 1480 4920 R 2.6 0.1 0:00 2 top
1 root 16 0 1544 552 1384 S 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 init
2 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 migration/0
3 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 ksoftirqd/0
4 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 migration/1
5 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 ksoftirqd/1
6 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 migration/2
7 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 ksoftirqd/2
8 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 migration/3
9 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 ksoftirqd/3
10 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 events/0

08:12:19 up 10:24, 1 user, load average: 191.85, 190.37, 187.98
437 processes: 434 sleeping, 1 running, 1 zombie, 1 stopped
CPU states: cpu user nice system irq softirq iowait idle
total 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 99.4%
cpu00 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
cpu01 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
cpu02 0.1% 0.0% 2.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 97.6%
cpu03 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Mem: 1036880k av, 1007144k used, 29736k free, 0k shrd, 72024k buff
494444k active, 196112k inactive
Swap: 2040244k av, 0k used, 2040244k free 365760k cached

PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME CPU COMMAND
4495 root 16 0 5524 1488 4920 R 0.5 0.1 0:01 2 top
1 root 16 0 1544 552 1384 S 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 init
2 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 migration/0
3 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 ksoftirqd/0
4 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 migration/1
5 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 ksoftirqd/1
6 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 migration/2
7 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 ksoftirqd/2
8 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 migration/3
9 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 ksoftirqd/3
10 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 events/0
11 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 events/1
12 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 events/2
13 root 6 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 events/3
14 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 khelper
15 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 kblockd/0
16 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:05 1 kblockd/1
17 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:05 2 kblockd/2
18 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 kblockd/3
42 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 kirqd
45 root 15 0 0 0 0 DW 0.0 0.0 0:39 2 kswapd0
46 root 15 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 aio/0
47 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 aio/1
48 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 aio/2
49 root 15 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 aio/3
148 root 17 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 kseriod
188 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:07 2 kjournald
08:12:24 up 10:24, 1 user, load average: 191.86, 190.40, 188.00
437 processes: 434 sleeping, 1 running, 1 zombie, 1 stopped
CPU states: cpu user nice system irq softirq iowait idle
total 0.1% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 99.3%
cpu00 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 99.7%
cpu01 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
cpu02 0.4% 0.0% 2.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 97.3%
cpu03 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Mem: 1036880k av, 1007080k used, 29800k free, 0k shrd, 72028k buff
494444k active, 196116k inactive
Swap: 2040244k av, 0k used, 2040244k free 365756k cached

PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME CPU COMMAND
4495 root 17 0 5524 1488 4920 R 0.6 0.1 0:01 2 top
1 root 16 0 1544 552 1384 S 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 init
2 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 migration/0
3 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 ksoftirqd/0
4 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 migration/1
5 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 ksoftirqd/1
6 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 migration/2
7 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 ksoftirqd/2
8 root RT 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 migration/3
9 root 34 19 0 0 0 SWN 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 ksoftirqd/3
10 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 events/0
11 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 events/1
12 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 events/2
13 root 6 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 events/3
14 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 khelper
15 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 kblockd/0
16 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:05 1 kblockd/1
17 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:05 2 kblockd/2
18 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 kblockd/3
42 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 kirqd
45 root 15 0 0 0 0 DW 0.0 0.0 0:39 2 kswapd0
46 root 15 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 aio/0
47 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 aio/1
48 root 5 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 aio/2
49 root 15 -10 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 3 aio/3
148 root 17 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 kseriod
188 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:07 1 kjournald
330 root 19 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 khubd
647 root 19 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 kjournald
648 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:24 1 kjournald
659 root 0 -20 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:06 1 loop0
660 root 15 0 0 0 0 DW 0.0 0.0 0:01 0 kjournald
661 root 0 -20 0 0 0 SW< 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 loop1
662 root 15 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 kjournald
889 root 19 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 khpsbpkt
1167 root 16 0 1608 616 1440 S 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 syslogd
1171 root 16 0 1552 520 1384 S 0.0 0.0 0:00 0 klogd
1181 root 16 0 1544 488 1368 S 0.0 0.0 0:00 2 irqbalance
1914 named 18 0 58668 5672 4800 S 0.0 0.5 0:00 0 named
1929 root 16 0 3664 1536 3444 S 0.0 0.1 0:00 1 sshd
1947 root 15 0 2252 1036 1904 S 0.0 0.0 0:00 1 xinetd
1965 root 16 0 7200 2788 5800 S 0.0 0.2 0:00 2 chkservd
2032 mailnull 22 6 6620 1924 6168 S N 0.0 0.1 0:00 1 exim
2038 mailnull 26 6 6592 1904 6168 S N 0.0 0.1 0:00 1 exim



Help, I can't read that. Excessive server load

 

 

 

 

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