Index: http-transport.scm
==================================================================
--- http-transport.scm
+++ http-transport.scm
@@ -429,11 +429,11 @@
                           (set! sdat *server-info*)
                           (mutex-unlock! *heartbeat-mutex*)
                           (if (and sdat
 				   (not changed)
 				   (> (- (current-seconds) start-time) 2))
-			      (let* ((servinfodir (conc *toppath*"/.servinfo"))
+			      (let* ((servinfodir (server:get-servinfo-dir *toppath*)) ;; (conc *toppath*"/.servinfo"))
 				     (ipaddr      (car sdat))
 				     (port        (cadr sdat))
 				     (servinf     (conc servinfodir"/"ipaddr":"port)))
 				(set! servinfofile servinf)
 				(if (not (file-exists? servinfodir))
@@ -461,11 +461,11 @@
 				(debug:print-info 0 *default-log-port* "Still waiting, last-sdat=" last-sdat)
                                 (sleep 4)
 				(if (> (- (current-seconds) start-time) 120) ;; been waiting for two minutes
 				    (let* ((ipaddr  (car sdat))
 					   (port    (cadr sdat))
-					   (servinf (conc *toppath*"/.servinfo/"ipaddr":"port)))
+					   (servinf (conc (server:get-servinfo-dir *toppath*)"/"ipaddr":"port)))
 				      (debug:print-error 0 *default-log-port* "transport appears to have died, exiting server")
 				      ;; (delete-file* servinf) ;; handled by on-exit, can be removed
                                       #;(common:save-pkt `((action . died)
                                                          (T      . server)
                                                          (pid    . ,(current-process-id))

Index: server.scm
==================================================================
--- server.scm
+++ server.scm
@@ -404,11 +404,11 @@
 ;; oldest server alive determines host then choose random of youngest
 ;; five servers on that host
 ;;
 (define (server:get-servers-info areapath)
   (assert *toppath* "FATAL: server:get-servers-info called before *toppath* has been set.")
-  (let* ((servinfodir (conc *toppath*"/.servinfo")))
+  (let* ((servinfodir (server:get-servinfo-dir areapath))) ;; (conc *toppath*"/.servinfo")))
     (if (not (file-exists? servinfodir))
 	(create-directory servinfodir))
     (let* ((allfiles    (glob (conc servinfodir"/*")))
 	   (res         (make-hash-table)))
       (for-each
@@ -431,11 +431,11 @@
 ;; returns #t => ok to start another server
 ;;         #f => not ok to start another server
 ;;
 (define (server:minimal-check areapath)
   (server:clean-up-old areapath)
-  (let* ((srvdir      (conc areapath"/.servinfo"))
+  (let* ((srvdir      (server:get-servinfo-dir areapath)) ;; (conc areapath"/.servinfo"))
 	 (servrs      (glob (conc srvdir"/*")))
 	 (thishostip  (server:get-best-guess-address (get-host-name)))
 	 (thisservrs  (glob (conc srvdir"/"thishostip":*")))
 	 (homehostinf (server:choose-server areapath 'homehost))
 	 (havehome    (car homehostinf))
@@ -518,14 +518,20 @@
 	  (server:run areapath)
 	  (thread-sleep! 3)
 	  (case mode
 	    ((homehost) (cons #f #f))
 	    (else	#f))))))
+
+(define (server:get-servinfo-dir areapath)
+  (let* ((spath (conc areapath"/.servinfo")))
+    (if (not (file-exists? spath))
+	(create-directory spath #t))
+    spath))
 
 (define (server:clean-up-old areapath)
   ;; any server file that has not been touched in ten minutes is effectively dead
-  (let* ((sfiles (glob (conc areapath"/.servinfo/*"))))
+  (let* ((sfiles (glob (conc (server:get-servinfo-dir areapath)"/*"))))
     (for-each
      (lambda (sfile)
        (let* ((modtime (handle-exceptions
 			   exn
 			 (begin
@@ -553,10 +559,16 @@
 ;;
 (define (server:kind-run areapath)
   ;; look for $MT_RUN_AREA_HOME/logs/server-start-last
   ;; and wait for it to be at least <server idletime> seconds old
   ;; (server:wait-for-server-start-last-flag areapath)
+  (let loop ()
+    (if (> (alist-ref 'adj-proc-load (common:get-normalized-cpu-load #f)) 2)
+	(begin
+	  (if (common:low-noise-print 30 "our-host-load")
+	      (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: system load is high, waiting to start server."))
+	  (loop))))
   (if (< (server:choose-server areapath 'count) 20)
       (server:run areapath))
   #;(if (not (server:check-if-running areapath)) ;; why try if there is already a server running?
       (let* ((lock-file    (conc areapath "/logs/server-start.lock")))
 	(let* ((start-flag (conc areapath "/logs/server-start-last")))