Resource Usage Monitoring Guide

This guide will show you how to track CPU, memory, disk, and network usage** on your server using built-in commands and advanced tools.

💡 Why monitor resources? Monitoring helps you detect problems early, optimize performance, and plan for scaling.

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Key Metrics to Monitor

Resource	Metric Example	Why It Matters
CPU	Load average, process utilization	Detect overload or runaway processes
Memory (RAM)	Used vs. free memory	Prevent crashes due to memory leaks
Disk	Space usage, IOPS, read/write speed	Avoid downtime from full disks
Network	Bandwidth, packet loss, latency	Identify bottlenecks or DDoS attacks

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Step 1: Monitoring CPU Usage

Check Load Average

uptime

Output example:

16:22:07 up 10 days,  3:44,  2 users,  load average: 0.25, 0.40, 0.35

• 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes average load

• If load > CPU cores, server may be overloaded.

Real-Time CPU Monitoring

htop

Interactive tool showing per-core usage and top processes.

⚠️ Warning If your CPU usage is consistently above 80%, consider optimizing applications or upgrading resources.

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Step 2: Monitoring Memory Usage

Check Memory Stats

free -h

Output:

              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:           8.0G        2.1G        3.2G        256M        2.7G        5.4G

Real-Time Memory Usage

vmstat 2

Updates memory and swap usage every 2 seconds.

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Step 3: Monitoring Disk Usage

Check Disk Space

df -h

Shows available and used space:

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1       80G   40G   36G  53% /

Find Large Directories

du -sh * | sort -h

Lists directories by size in current path.

Disk I/O Monitoring

iostat -xz 1

Displays read/write performance and bottlenecks.

💡 Tip Keep at least 20% disk space free to avoid fragmentation and performance issues.

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Step 4: Monitoring Network Usage

Check Bandwidth in Real-Time

iftop

Shows incoming and outgoing traffic by IP.

Check Network Errors

netstat -i

Displays dropped packets and errors.

Advanced Monitoring

nload

Visual interface showing bandwidth usage.

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Step 5: Using Monitoring Tools

For ongoing monitoring, install tools for visibility:

Tool	Function
htop	CPU, memory usage in real time
iotop	Disk I/O usage
iftop	Bandwidth monitoring
glances	All-in-one resource monitor
fastnetmon	DDoS detection

Example install (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt install htop iotop iftop glances

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Step 6: Advanced Monitoring with Prometheus + Grafana

For long-term tracking and visualization:

1. Install Prometheus on your server.

2. Use Node Exporter to collect metrics.

3. Connect Prometheus to Grafana.

4. Create dashboards for CPU, RAM, disk, and network usage.

🚀 Pro Tip Clouduxe offers preconfigured Grafana dashboards for real-time monitoring of your VPS.

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Step 7: Setting Alerts

Monitoring is incomplete without alerts.

Use Prometheus Alertmanager or third-party tools (like UptimeRobot, PagerDuty) to notify you when thresholds are exceeded.

Example thresholds:

• CPU > 90% for 5 minutes

• Memory usage > 80%

• Disk usage > 85%

• Network packet loss > 5%

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Troubleshooting High Resource Usage

Issue	Possible Solution
High CPU load	Check processes with top / htop
Memory leak	Restart service, optimize code
Disk usage at 100%	Delete logs, rotate backups
High network traffic	Check for DDoS, use firewall rules

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Conclusion

Monitoring resource usage is a critical part of server management. By regularly checking CPU, memory, disk, and network utilization, you can:

• Detect issues before they become critical

• Optimize server performance

• Plan scaling efficiently

• Protect against attacks

✅ Next Step Integrate monitoring into your Clouduxe VPS Hosting to get proactive alerts and insights.