It measures CPU activity memory/paging interrupts device load network process and thread allocation and swap space utilization. Sar: System Activity Reporter (sar) is part of the Sysstat system resource utilities package. However, as useful as these can be, they all rely on lower-level programs.įour important Linux system monitoring tools are worthwhile to examine in more detail. These include Glance, a Python-based cross-platform system monitoring tool htop, another cross-platform system monitor, which uses ncurses for its display and Netdata, a distributed server system monitoring program. There are, of course, many higher-level system monitoring programs for all distributions that permit you to monitor any Linux server. These tools also can be highly complex, such as sar, which collects, reports, and saves a wide variety of system activity information. They include very simple commands like top, which by default displays Linux processes in CPU activity order. Getting started with Linux system monitoring toolsĭozens of Linux server system monitoring commands are built into the operating system.

Storage usage, including disk space and Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS)Ī server’s system load – a term you hear often in these discussions – usually encompasses the usage of memory, CPU, and storage.

Specifically, Linux system monitors look at: For example, does InnoDB or MyISAM work best for the database storage engine?

Data collected to determine the best use of server resources for mission-critical applications.Data collected over time to enable analysis of long-term trends.Data is presented in a visual manner – such as dashboards, graphs, and weather maps - to visualize trends that aren’t obvious in raw data.System administrators are alerted when a KPI fails to meet its specified metric.No resource bottlenecks are slowing things down.The server resources are sufficient for mission-critical applications and services to work at peak performance.Specifically, you use Linux system monitoring programs to ensure that: The Linux system monitor tools accomplish this by gathering data on each server’s key performance indicators (KPIs), network connectivity, and application availability. They set a goal of ensuring that a server is performing optimally, they provide information that lets Linux administrators understand what’s going on, and sometimes automate their responses to those situations.

Once you’ve mastered these dedicated applications – most of which are built into the operating system – you’ll be well on your way to Linux system administrator expertise.Īll server monitoring programs have a few things in common. Linux system monitoring tools reassure you when things are working right, and help you recognize odd behavior, performance anomalies, and their source when the server misbehaves. The only way to know that your Linux-server-based applications and services are running well is to measure what’s going on in the server and its connectivity status.

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