TotalCPU

TotalCPU is a term used in computing to denote a metric that aggregates CPU resource consumption across a system or workload. It is commonly used in performance analysis and capacity planning to describe the total amount of CPU time consumed by all processes over a given measurement interval. Depending on the implementation, TotalCPU can be presented as a raw sum of CPU seconds or as a normalized fraction of the system’s available CPU capacity.

Calculation and interpretation: On a system with N CPU cores, the total CPU capacity over a time window of length T seconds equals N multiplied by T core-seconds. TotalCPU can be computed by summing the user and kernel CPU time for every observed process during the interval, or by integrating the instantaneous CPU usage across all cores. Normalized TotalCPU equals the TotalCPU_seconds divided by (N * T), expressed as a percentage.

Relationship to other metrics: TotalCPU is related to, but distinct from, per-process CPU time and instantaneous CPU usage. It provides a system-wide view of workload size and can be used alongside metrics such as CPU load, CPU ready time, and I/O wait to assess performance and efficiency. The term is not standardized in official specifications; different monitoring tools may implement a similar concept under different names (for example, total CPU time, aggregate CPU usage, or core-seconds).

Applications: It is used for capacity planning, workload characterization, anomaly detection, and trend analysis in operating systems, data centers, and cloud environments.

See also: CPU utilization, CPU time, capacity planning, performance monitoring.