Performance analysis with iostat, sar, Ksar, collectd, and serverstats
Performance at a Glance
© Lead Image © Martin Blech, Fotolia.com
We describe five tools you can use to monitor and troubleshoot your system's performance.
Sooner or later, most server administrators realize they need to do some performance analysis. Whether you hope to detect bottlenecks or plan resources, reliable performance data is essential for any well-managed network. Also, historical records showing performance over an extended period makes it easier to forecast and adapt to changes.
The most important part of measuring performance values is that you don't start measuring right away. To begin, you need to consider carefully what information you want to obtain. Here are five suggestions for what is important during a performance analysis:
- Document your observations and results. You must allocate presumptions and conclusions based on your data.
- Set up a baseline of performance for your systems. This baseline is a defined initial state that you can use to qualify measurements.
- Measure the state of the system during the analysis before making a change. All data you collect for a defined system will help.
- Locate the bottlenecks in your system. Which resources limit performance?
- Make realistic assessments regarding which measures improve performance, and restrict yourself to these parts when optimizing.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
There's a New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle is a Linux AI assistant that can work with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.