@@ -1813,30 +1813,44 @@
 ;; get values from cached info from dropping file in logs dir
 ;;  e.g. key is host and dtype is normalized-load
 ;;
 (define (common:get-cached-info key dtype #!key (age 10))
   (if *toppath*
-      (let* ((fullpath (conc *toppath* "/.sysdata/" key "-" dtype ".log")))
+      (let* ((fullpath (conc *toppath* "/.sysdata/" key "-" dtype ".log"))
+	     (delfile  (lambda ()
+			 (debug:print-info 1 *default-log-port* " removing bad file " fullpath ", exn=" exn)
+			 (delete-file* fullpath)
+			 #f)))
 	(if (and (file-exists? fullpath)
 		 (file-read-access? fullpath))
 	    (handle-exceptions
 		exn
 	      (begin
 		(debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "failed to get cached info from " fullpath ", exn=" exn)
 		#f)
 	     (debug:print 2 *default-log-port* "reading file " fullpath)
-	     (let ((real-age (- (current-seconds)(file-change-time fullpath)))) 
+	     (let ((real-age (- (current-seconds)
+				(handle-exceptions
+				    exn
+				  (begin
+				    (debug:print 1 *default-log-port* "Failed to read mod time on file "
+						 fullpath ", using 0, exn=" exn)
+				    0)
+				  (file-change-time fullpath)))))
 	       (if (< real-age age)
 		   (handle-exceptions
 		       exn
-		     (begin
-		       (debug:print-info 1 *default-log-port* " removing bad file " fullpath ", exn=" exn)
-		       (delete-file* fullpath)
-		       #f)
-		     (with-input-from-file fullpath read))
+		     (delfile)
+		     (let* ((res (with-input-from-file fullpath read)))
+		       (if (eof-object? res)
+			   (begin
+			     (delfile)
+			     #f)
+			   res)))
 		   (begin
-		     (debug:print-info 2 *default-log-port* "file " fullpath " is too old (" real-age" seconds) to trust, skipping reading it")
+		     (debug:print-info 2 *default-log-port* "file " fullpath
+				       " is too old (" real-age" seconds) to trust, skipping reading it")
 		     #f))))
 	    (begin
 	      (debug:print 2 *default-log-port* "not reading file " fullpath)
 	      #f)))
       #f))
@@ -2102,33 +2116,38 @@
                      #f
                      (common:get-homehost)))
          (hh     (if hh-dat (car hh-dat) #f)))
     (common:wait-for-normalized-load maxnormload msg hh)))
 
+(define *numcpus-cache* (make-hash-table))
 (define (common:get-num-cpus remote-host)
   (let* ((actual-host (or remote-host (get-host-name))))
-    (or (common:get-cached-info actual-host "num-cpus" age: (+ 2592000 (random 3600))) ;; hosts had better not be changing the number of cpus too often!
-	(let* ((proc   (lambda ()
-			 (let loop ((numcpu 0)
-				    (inl    (read-line)))
-			   (if (eof-object? inl)
-			       (if (> numcpu 0)
-				   numcpu
-				   #f) ;; if zero return #f so caller knows that things are not working
-			       (loop (if (string-match "^processor\\s+:\\s+\\d+$" inl)
-					 (+ numcpu 1)
-					 numcpu)
-				     (read-line))))))
-	       (result (if remote-host
-			   (with-input-from-pipe 
-			       (conc "ssh " remote-host " cat /proc/cpuinfo")
-			     proc)
-			   (with-input-from-file "/proc/cpuinfo" proc))))
-	  (if (and (number? result)
-		   (> result 0))
-	      (common:write-cached-info actual-host "num-cpus" result))
-	  result))))
+    ;; hosts had better not be changing the number of cpus too often!
+    (or (hash-table-ref/default *numcpus-cache* actual-host #f)
+	(let* ((numcpus (or (common:get-cached-info actual-host "num-cpus" age: (+ 2592000 (random 3600)))
+			    (let* ((proc   (lambda ()
+					     (let loop ((numcpu 0)
+							(inl    (read-line)))
+					       (if (eof-object? inl)
+						   (if (> numcpu 0)
+						       numcpu
+						       #f) ;; if zero return #f so caller knows that things are not working
+						   (loop (if (string-match "^processor\\s+:\\s+\\d+$" inl)
+							     (+ numcpu 1)
+							     numcpu)
+							 (read-line))))))
+				   (result (if remote-host
+					       (with-input-from-pipe 
+						(conc "ssh " remote-host " cat /proc/cpuinfo")
+						proc)
+					       (with-input-from-file "/proc/cpuinfo" proc))))
+			      (if (and (number? result)
+				       (> result 0))
+				  (common:write-cached-info actual-host "num-cpus" result))
+			      result))))
+	  (hash-table-set! *numcpus-cache* actual-host numcpus)
+	  numcpus))))
 
 ;; wait for normalized cpu load to drop below maxload
 ;;
 (define (common:wait-for-normalized-load maxnormload msg remote-host #!optional (rem-tries 5))
   (let ((num-cpus (common:get-num-cpus remote-host)))