Server Overload

My host tells me the sitemap generator is using a *lot* of server resources throughout the day:

Top Process %CPU 91.8 httpd [www.acorndomains.co.uk] [/sitemap_396.xml.gz]
Top Process %CPU 91.3 httpd [www.acorndomains.co.uk] [/sitemap_433.xml.gz]
Top Process %CPU 91.2 httpd [www.acorndomains.co.uk] [/sitemap_330.xml.gz]

What can I do about this?

Throughout the day? You only have the task running once a day, right? (Usually best to have it run at your lowest-usage time.)

Yes I set it to run at 3am each morning, but it seems the Googlebot is visiting all day long taking the files.

Example from Bot Report:

1 2006-03-04 15:00 sitemap_396.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
2 15:00 sitemap_412.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
3 15:01 sitemap_284.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
4 15:01 sitemap_164.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
5 15:01 sitemap_287.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
6 15:02 sitemap_430.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
7 15:02 sitemap_472.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
8 15:02 sitemap_329.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
9 15:03 sitemap_240.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
10 15:03 sitemap_182.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
11 15:03 sitemap_465.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
12 15:04 sitemap_335.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
13 15:04 sitemap_235.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
14 15:04 sitemap_434.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
15 15:05 sitemap_262.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
16 15:05 sitemap_272.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
17 15:06 sitemap_5.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
18 15:08 sitemap_403.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)
19 15:08 sitemap_238.xml.gz Googlebot 66.249.72.167 Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)

Hello,

mm.. why do you have so many sitemap files? What's the sitemap size in your case? (please use 10,000-50,000 URLs per file).

Yes, that is a high number of sitemap files, especially considering there are only about 20,000 posts on your site.

I thought I just installed it as default. I will set it to 20,000 and see what happens.

Thanks