What is kernel_task? And why does it use so much memory?

I have an iMac 27 inch late 2009 purchased new in July 2010. It has a 3.08 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and 4 GB of Memory. I recently upgraded to Yosemite and just now was unable to save an Excel document to an external hard drive with plenty of space with the warning I did not have enough memory. I went to my activity monitor and indeed there is very little memory and at the top of the usages of memory is kernel_task? I don't know what that is and why it requires so much system memory.
Also, there is an installation I aborted for an app I realized I didnt need and for some reason something it out there still taking system memory and I get a message when I shut down that it can't install. How do I delete that.

DNS (Domain Name Service) is the Internet "address book" of web sites. Whenever you go to a site such as http://apple.com your browser must make calls to the DNS server specified in your Network Settings to translate "apple.com" into Apple's IP (Internet Protocol) address of 17.178.96.59. Any time you access any Internet resource (such as sending or receiving email, playing multi-player games, using a browser, Using any app that accesses data on the Internet such as news, weather, stocks, etc) one or more DNS lookups must be made. Many web sites have content from several different sites. Each site referenced on the page must also be looked up. Each query is small (~100 bytes), but they can add up.

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What is powerd and why is it using so much cpu

When I check the activity monitor, it is almost pegged out. Because of this other things run slowly. So, what is "powerd" and why is it all of a sudden using so CPU?

It is something related to power management, but it shouldn't be running away like that.
Select it in Activity Monitor and then Quit it using the "X in octagon" button. You should only need Quit, but try force quit if needed.
It will restart, but hopefully it won't start running away. If it does, there is likely something else causing it to do that.

What is DNS Services and why does it use so much data?

I have 300MB to use a month on my iPhone 4S (most recent iOS) and I'm normally pretty good with it because I'm connected to WiFi a lot. All of a sudden, my data usage spikes and my DNS services usage has gone up to 40MB. What is this and how do I keep it from spiking like this? It's incredibly annoying.
Also, any other tips on saving data while connected with the 3G? As mentioned before, I only have 300MB so I like to stretch it for the month.

DNS (Domain Name Service) is the Internet "address book" of web sites. Whenever you go to a site such as http://apple.com your browser must make calls to the DNS server specified in your Network Settings to translate "apple.com" into Apple's IP (Internet Protocol) address of 17.178.96.59. Any time you access any Internet resource (such as sending or receiving email, playing multi-player games, using a browser, Using any app that accesses data on the Internet such as news, weather, stocks, etc) one or more DNS lookups must be made. Many web sites have content from several different sites. Each site referenced on the page must also be looked up. Each query is small (~100 bytes), but they can add up.

Why does lion use so much memory?

Why so much memory usage in Lion? Have 8GB in Lion 10.7.2 (waiting on 7.3 until I can be assured it won't hose everything) and keep running out of memory without having anything but a browser open. Currently do not have anything in background except a clipboard manager and am running Safari with 6 primarily text-based tabs--total memory usage: 2.63GB. Comparable memory usage in Snow Leopard was around 900MB. Have had memory climb up to all installed memory, though at that time I did have about twenty tabs open, some with Flash and othe multi-media, but, still, did not have comparable problems with Snow Leopard. What gives? Memory freeing and reclamation does not seem to be working efficiently either. Have used Purge and FreeMemory to some benefit, but there seems to be something deeply wrong with the pool of inactive memory. Also, either the kernal, or some other vital core piece of the OS, gets transferred out to Virtual Memory when the memory usage gets above 6GB...then machine crawls and I have to reboot. Very unhappy, not sure I should have given up my Windows 7 machines for the Mac...they screamed speedily and had none of these problems.
Very disappointed with so much about Lion. Only reason I upgraded from Snow Leopard was to get the vaunted hardware gains when running VMWare Fusion 4. Other aspects are very bad--lots of crashes, software incompatibilities, lots of beachballs, generally sluggish performance, will not start screensaver, will not sleep, will not shut down properly--have to use power button...goes on and on....then death-dealing problems with 10.7.3 update...all going to **** now that Steve Jobs has moved on to other duties? Trying to convince myself it will all work out, but not sure...trying to devise a de-migration path back to Snow Leopard that will not take me a hundred hours to implement.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except keyboard, mouse, and monitor, if applicable. Launch the usual set of applications you use when you notice the slowdown.
Step 1
Launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the page that opens.
Select the CPU tab. Select All Processes from the popup menu in the toolbar, if not already selected. Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
Now select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
Step 2
Launch the Console application in the same way as above, and select “kernel.log” from the file list. Post the dozen or so most recent messages in the log – the text, please, not a screenshot. If there are repeats, please post only one example of each repeated message.

Why does Safari use so much memory?

Below is a screenshot of the "Safari Web Content" process using 2.57GB of ram! When I took a screenshot yesterday at 1.7GB I thought that was a lot!
It seems Safari will use as much ram as can be thrown at it. I had a lot of windows and tabs open, but really doubt I had more than a few hundred megs of content loaded in those windows and tabs, never mind 2.6GB!
My experience with Macs and OS X would pretty much be perfect if it weren't for Safari. It brings my system down to a slow grind because the virtual memory/swap is always thrashing so badly.
Apple goes on about the "magical" performance updates they make to Safari - well guess what? They mean nothing when Safari has all your ram tied up and the swap file is thrashing like crazy.

Glad it's better now, Doc. I'm still wondering if you empty your Safari cache regularly.
I use GlimmerBlocker, and love it. From what I've read here, it's less problematic than ABP, and it's built so it doesn't get out of date, with an OS/Safari upgrade. Just a thought for ya.

Nsurlsessiond - what is this and why does it use alot of data?

Hello
Firstly
I was in a public library, uploading to my dropbox account, and all of sudden my network speed indicator/ montior showed heaps of download and fast too.
but i was not downloading anything.
I was upping to my dropbox account.
In activity monitor i noticed this service was operating "nsurlsessiond"
What is this service?
In my connection alert it tells me nsurlsessiond tried to establish a connection to apple-dnld.vo.llnwd.net on TCP port 80 (http)
Secondly, i was using my own wifi, and saw this nsurlsessiond service consuming heaps of data. Again I was upping to my dropbox account. About 1gb this time.
Now I have blocked communciation to "nsurlsessiond"
What is the impact of blocking such communication?
please see details of service in screenshot
Now after this experience, I am wondering is it apple policy to have communication from our macbook's to somwhere without us knowingly allowing it? I thought apple was respective of our privacy, or has this changed?
thankyou for your help and time.
regards
10.10.2
dropbox v3.4.4
macbook pro
Message was edited by: seaseasea added screenshot
Message was edited by: seaseasea
added device and osx

i couldnt say. it was just that i happen to be only upping, to dropbox, and then saw downloading on the monitor.
that was triggered as odd.
i rarely look at what services are going on... only if my macbook slows down or something else odd.
in both cases i was only upping to dropbox.
i dont do alot with my macbook, other than upping to dropbox laterly.
thankyou for your thinking and help.

What is "Directory Service" and why does it "use up 194%" ?

What is "Directory Service" and why does it "use up 194%" on my istat CPU app monitor?
Ever since I installed Leopard I've noticed this happening more and more - especially when I install an external hard drive or unplug my ethernet line - this is plainly weird and never happened under Tiger - the temperature shoots up to 84° also - I always to a restart to get rid of it but it's kind of worrying....anybody have any ideas?
Message was edited by: Host

Had this happen myself.
It does have something to do with Spotlight/searching. Should go away after a while, or so I have heard from other users, 'cause it hasn't stopped driving me and my fan mad yet.
Am going to have my MacBook index and follow-up on indexing and whatever else it feels is necessary to finally allow me to search in peace over the weekend while locking it away where I can't hear it.
Hopefully that does the trick.
If it wasn't for things working better/faster and most things looking better I might actually consider taking Leopard off again ...

Android.process.acore? What is this and why does it keep not working?

Help: I've had my Lucid 3 phone since May and this phone has been the most confusing thing to operate. I'm currently having three (3) issues:
The Wi-Fi is not working...I keep getting the symbol refreshing. I can't turn the Wi-Fi on or off. I read "Turning Wi-Fi on..." when I go to the setting for Wi-Fi but this has been going on for 3 hours. C'mon! My Wi-Fi at home is working great; that's how I'm writing this post. Help!
To add to the misery: I keep getting a pop-up notification that reads: "Unfortunately, the android.process.acore has stopped." What is this and why does it not work. The phone's been getting this message for a week now...help!
Last concern: I'm still not getting multimedia texts (particularly pictures). The data and Wi-Fi were on...well, that's when the Wi-Fi was working (please refer to complaint #1 above). What the heck?
This phone is terrible news and I can't wait to replace it. In the meantime, the phone needs to work. Help.
-Salo

We certainly want to clear up all the confusion and have a working phone in your hands, srodezno. Let's take this one issue at a time:
1. How long ago did this trouble with WiFi start? Are you able to connect to any alternate WiFi signals other than the one at home?
2. Do you get that notification when you access anything in particular? Did it begin when you updated or installed any application?
3. Are you still able to access other data services (web, apps, Play Store, etc) while the WiFi is off/not working? Are you able to send the MMS messages?
JenniferH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/vzwsupport

What is BAPI and where does it use

Hi all
What is BAPI and where does it useful for us. And as a functional consultant how much should i know it.
regards
Subrat

Hi Subrat,
You can get the information of whatis BAPI in SAP help link below...
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_46c/helpdata/en/a5/3ec8464ac011d1894e0000e829fbbd/content.htm
As a Functional consultent, it depends how close you are with the technical part of the implementation. if you are involved in some technical part, you need this information...
Best Regards,
Venkat.

What is "Other" and why does it take up so much space?

What is "Other" and why does it take up so much space?

What is the Other on my iPhone and How to Remove It
An "other" larger than about 1 1/2 GB usually indicates that the "other" includes corrupted files.
First try:
"First you go settings/general/usage/music/then left swipe over music and press delete and you would think it deletes your music but it doesn't instead it deletes your other but make sure your ipod is connected to a computer while doing this"
as recommended by:
How do I get rid of "other" storage: Apple Support Communities
Next, usually restoring from backup eliminated the corrupted files. However, sometimes restoring to factory settings/new iPod is required.
To restore from backup see:
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What is MRP and why it is used?

hi
this question was asked in an interview can some one explain in detail for me
What is MRP and why it is used? If there are 2 Lakhs of items is it feasiable to run MRP since running of MRP for 2 lakhs of item is time consuming, if yes then how it is been done?
thanx

Dear Bashir,
1.MRP is material requirements planning which plans the required quantity of depedent material's along with the required date.
2.MRP procedure is sub divided into a normal MRP,Master Production Scheduling and Consumption Based Planning.
3.Cosnumtion BAsed planning is further sub-divided into Time Phased Planning,Reorder Point Planning and Forecast based
Planning.Reorder point planning can be automatic or Manual.
4.MRP type is differentiated using the MRP type value assigned in the MRP1 view of the material master.
5.Some of the MRP types are PD - MRP,M0,M1,M2,M3 - MAster Production Scheduling related,VB - Manual reorder point
planning,VM-Automatic reorder point planning.
6.It is possible to take the MRP for the whole plant/for a specific MRP area using the batch MRP job.
7.MDBT is the T Code for scheduling the MRP job or it can be scheduled for the program RMMRP000 using the T Code SM36
and the results can be checked using SM37.
Regards
Mangalraj.S

What is X11 and Why does GIMP require it

Hello all,
I use GIMP at work on a Windows workstation, and love it. I have just downloaded the mac version but on boot up it prompts me to locate the 'X11'.
What is X11?
where is it located?
and
Why does GIMP need it so badly?
Thanking you all in advance

If I recall X11 is an optional install on your installer dvd's. I don't remember if it's a option on the main install or an addition on the second dvd.
When it gets installed the X11 app will be in your /Applications/Utilities folder. There is also additional stuff the app needs in other directories on your boot drive as well.
As for what X11 is, here's a wiki reference. Basically the mac version of gimp needs x11 as it's windowing layer (probably the easiest way to port gimp to the mac).

What is indexing and why does it take 122 hours?

What is indexing and why has it slowed my computer and why does it take 122 hours?

Indexing allows Spotlght to know where everything is on your computer. It won't take as long as it says, the times it gives are always vastly inflated.

What is maccmd and why does it want to make changes?

Everytime I reboot my macbook pro I get this message.
I always just hit cancel but I'm starting to wonder what it is. I used finder to see what program it was and found nothing. Then I googled it and searched this board and didn't find anything.
Did some malicious software sneak its way onto my macbook?
Thanks in advance.

I thought about that, but all that LittleSnitch does is report ingoing/outgoing communications. It doesn't create any. So I'm just trying to figure out what a program called "ndat" does, and what 0.0.0.0 on DIVERT port 2560 (labrat) means.
Has anyone heard of any of these things on OSX?

What is kernel_task, and why is it taking up so much RAM and CPU?

I have recently upgraded to OS X Mavericks, and despite promises of extreme performance, my MPB has been running slower than ever before. According to Activity Monitor, "kernal_task" is taking up 600+ MB of RAM and hasn't dropped since I upgraded. It's also been taking between 4% and 8% of my CPU. When I first upgraded, there was a little alert message that said it was optomizing my system, and it may slow down the computer and decrease battery life. The message lasted for two days, then finally went away. (I didn't close it, so I assumed it had finished.) However, kernal_task, which I thought was the optomization, has been on the top of the list of RAM usage and top 3 on the list of % CPU since I upgraded. PLEASE tell me what it is, and how I can decrease it's toll on my performance! It won't let me stop the task or even get more information on it when I select it on the list of processes. Also, on a side note, Activity Monitor used to let you change its dock icon to a pie chart showing memory usage. Unfortunately, this feature seems to be gone. Is there any way I can get it back or use a different app? I don't want to have it open on top of my stuff or as a window, I would like to see it in the dock. In fact, the chart isn't even in the memory tab of the Activity Monitor application anymore!
Thank you so much to whoever can help me out in my panic and frustration. For the record, I am actually really great at computers, but I turned to the support community because I'm sure there's someone out there with more knowledge than me, even though I'm not a tech-illiterate person...
Dan
Specs: (Per the System Information App)
Model Name:          MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:          MacBookPro6,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:          2.8 GHz
Number of Processors:          1
Total Number of Cores:          2
L2 Cache (per Core):          256 KB
L3 Cache:          4 MB
Memory:          8 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed:          4.8 GT/s
Boot ROM Version:          MBP61.0057.B0F
SMC Version (system):          1.57f18
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State:          Enabled
Also, I'm on a MacBook Pro 17" with a 500GB hard drive (and only 70GB free, but I use an external 2TB as my main drive). It is a mid-2010 build, and I bought it certified refurbished.

That's not very high. Mine is over 1 GB. Typical is around 5-800 GBs depending upon what tasks are running.
You don't need to add more RAM, just be careful not to run more concurrent tasks than are appropriate for your memory usage profile. It's really not a big deal unless it gets to 600 GBs. Then you have a problem.
I disagree with McBlob about free disk space. Keep at least 10% of the drive's capacity as free space. For you that's 50 GBs, and that's adequate.

What is kernel_task? And why does it use so much memory?

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