EC2 instance High CPU Load Issue

Question

Hi,

I am using an EC2 instance m6a.xlarge with a 4-core CPU and 16 GB RAM as my DB server. My app server is also in the same configuration.

I have noticed that my DB server's CPU load average is suddenly spiking to 26, whereas the normal load would always be less than 0.5 to 1. I am running MySQL server version 8.0.36-0ubuntu0.22.04.1 for Linux on x86_64 (Ubuntu). Additionally, I have observed that some processes of MySQL are going into the D state (uninterruptible sleep) when I checked in htop. Furthermore, my application log indicates "Unable to acquire JDBC Connection" despite having enough connections available in the MySQL connection.

I need your help in identifying the problem and resolving it.

Answer

Processes in a "D" or uninterruptible sleep state are usually waiting on I/O. You may need to check the health of your disks to determine if there are any issues there.
Ensure that the EBS volumes are not exceeding limits for IOPS or throughput as they could be throttled. You can refer to this article to determine this;
https://repost.aws/knowledge-center/ebs-identify-micro-bursting

EC2 instance High CPU Load Issue

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