Over time, the storage used on Linux systems you manage will grow. As a result, you will, at some point, try to delete, move, search, or otherwise manipulate thousands of files using commands such as rm, ls, mv, cp, and so on, which are all subject to this limitation. As such, you will eventually come across […]
Linux server needs a RAM upgrade? Check with top, free, vmstat, sar
Sometimes, it can be a bit of a challenge knowing if and when you should upgrade the RAM (random access memory) on your Linux server. Even more so, when deciding how much memory you should add, or if you have adequate memory, how do you make the best use of it? This article will walk […]
Linux Performance: Almost Always Add Swap Space – Part 2: ZRAM
In the previous article, we looked at how swap space, particularly swapping, can severely slow down Linux performance. We then tweaked Linux kernel parameters to better use server memory and avoid heavy swapping. That article created some debate and good arguments for and against swap space. For example, if you have more than enough memory […]
Linux Performance: Almost Always Add Swap Space
We know that using Linux swap space instead of RAM (memory) can severely slow down performance. So, one might ask, since I have more than enough memory available, wouldn’t it be better to delete swap space? The answer is: No. There are performance benefits when swap space is enabled, even when you have more than […]
btop – the htop alternative
Have you ever experienced slow application performance on a server and wondered which process was causing the bottleneck? In a production server environment, monitoring system performance and hardware resource usage in real-time is crucial. That’s where system monitoring tools come in handy. And, with the availability of numerous command-line system monitoring tools, you’re spoiled for […]
“MySQL server has gone away” error – Solution(s)
The MySQL server has gone away error, which means that the MySQL server (mysqld) timed out and closed the connection. By default, MySQL will close connections after eight hours (28800 seconds) if nothing happens. However, in some cases, your web host, DBA, or app developer may have decreased this timeout setting, as discussed below. MySQL […]
Fix Error: Failed to download metadata for repo ‘appstream’ – CentOS 8
As we all know, CentOS 8 reached its End of Life (EOL) on December 31, 2021, and CentOS Linux 7 will reach its end of life (EOL) on June 30, 2024, marking a significant shift in the CentOS ecosystem. This transition to CentOS Stream leaves system administrators and users with some important decisions to make. […]
Linux server performance: Is disk I/O slowing your application?
If your Linux server is bogged down, your first step may often be to use the top command in the terminal to check load averages. However, there are times when top shows very high load averages even with low CPU ‘us’ (user) and high CPU ‘id’ (idle) percentages. This is the case in the video […]
innodb_buffer_pool_size – MySQL Performance
In MySQL performance tuning, few variables wield as much influence as innodb_buffer_pool_size. This essential MySQL configuration parameter directly impacts the performance of InnoDB, the most commonly used storage engine in MySQL. In this second installment in our series on MySQL database performance optimization, we continue to delve into the intricate world of MySQL configuration variables by […]
Linux Commands frequently used by Linux Sysadmins – Part 5
This is the final part of the five-part series entitled: Linux Commands frequently used by Linux Sysadmins. So far, we’ve covered over 50 commands regularly used by Linux sysadmins and power users. Refer to part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. This article will look into another set of commands and command-line tools […]