I've recently begun to have trouble with the Linux system that is my
amanda server...when amdump runs, the load spikes to between 4.00 and
6.00, and the system becomes nearly unresponsive for the duration of
the backup.  The server is backing up several local partitions, and
also two partitions on remote servers.  I've tried starting amdump
with nice and setting it to a low priority, but when gtar and gzip are
started by amanda, the priority setting is somehow lost.  The server
isn't even trying to back up multiple partitions in parallel, so I'm
at a loss as to how this is happening, especially on a fairly fast
server (dual Athlon MP 2000).

Any suggestions?  If you need to see the amanda logs or anything else
that would help, just ask.

-Kurt Raschke