diff --git a/neat.conf b/neat.conf
index 0336a03..41c0084 100644
--- a/neat.conf
+++ b/neat.conf
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@ data_collector_interval = 10
 # placement algorithms
 data_collector_data_length = 100
 
+# The threshold on the overall (all cores) utilization of the physical
+# CPU of a host, above which the host is considered to be overloaded.
+# This is used for logging host overloads into the database.
+host_cpu_overload_threshold = 0.95
+
 # The user name for connecting to the compute hosts to switch them
 # into the sleep mode
 compute_user = neat
diff --git a/neat/config.py b/neat/config.py
index 6e82c8f..8bafa58 100644
--- a/neat/config.py
+++ b/neat/config.py
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ REQUIRED_FIELDS = [
     'local_manager_interval',
     'data_collector_interval',
     'data_collector_data_length',
+    'host_cpu_overload_threshold',
     'compute_user',
     'compute_password',
     'sleep_command',