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Narrowing down Linux performance in sixty seconds

Summary

Brendan Gregg arranges ten standard commands into a quick procedure for load, CPU, memory, disks and network. The procedure comprises ten commands. The first investigation takes about sixty seconds.

Ideas

  • uptime shows the development of load over several time windows.
  • dmesg reveals kernel and hardware events.
  • vmstat combines processes, memory, paging and CPU time.
  • iostat makes disk utilisation and queues visible.

Insights

  • A fixed diagnostic procedure prevents premature single explanations.
  • System metrics only gain meaning when viewed together over time.
  • Quick triage decides which deeper tools make sense afterwards.

Facts

  • The examples use common Linux tools.

Recommendations

  • Collect timestamped output before making changes.
  • Only dig deeper into measured bottlenecks with specialised tools.

References

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