There are 2 changes in recent Karmic kernels that should help:
2.6.31-10.35:
* [Config] Set default I/O scheduler to DEADLINE
CFQ seems to have some load related problems which are often exacerbated by sreadahead.
- LP: #381300
2.6.31-11.38
* sched: Disable NEW_FAIR_SLEEPERS for now
- LP: #436342
There are 2 changes in recent Karmic kernels that should help:
2.6.31-10.35:
* [Config] Set default I/O scheduler to DEADLINE
CFQ seems to have some load related problems which are often exacerbated by sreadahead.
- LP: #381300
2.6.31-11.38
* sched: Disable NEW_FAIR_SLEEPERS for now
- LP: #436342