CPU Overload with MySQL (Reference Data)

Average CPU load of 86% (during a 24 hour period) was observed under following circumstances:

Amazon Instance type:	m2.xlarge
Processor Architecture:	64 bit
# Virtual CPU:	2
Amazon Compute Unit:	6.5
Memory:	17.1 GB
OS:	Linux

Total Database Access:	3,750,000
Total Reads:	31%
Total Writes:	69%

Database access numbers are during a 24 hour period.

During the same period, average memory utilization was 16%.

CPU load fluctuated with a high of 150% between 17:00-18:00 UTC; memory utilization was constant.

Peak Load

During the last 2 hours culminating to the peak load, database was accessed about 200,000 to 230,000 times per hour.

Conclusion

Database access of 120,000 to 140,000 per hour is most optimal for the system, which will keep the load below 80%.

This post hopefully provides a reference for systems with similar configurations. Strategies for reducing the load is not in scope of this post.