Monitor resource contention with Pressure Stall Information
Pressure Gauge

Pressure Stall Information (PSI) is a new feature that gives users a better view of resource contention.
CPU, RAM, and I/O are the three most important computing resources. If these resources are depleted, processes start to fight for them and resource contention scenarios occur. To avoid these problems, it makes sense to monitor precisely what resources applications use in order to correctly dimension the hardware requirements and make optimal use of the existing hardware.
Smartphones can also benefit from this type of monitoring: when resources become scarce, phones often terminate programs in the background in order to offer the foreground application sufficient resources.
Load Average
Most administrators keep an eye on the load average to determine the extent to which a system is exposed to load. The uptime
or top
(Listing 1) commands both display the load average, reading the values from the /proc/loadavg
file. The file contains five values (Line 6). In addition to the three load average values, the fourth value counts the current executable kernel scheduling entities and the fifth shows the process ID of the latest process created.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
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
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works 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.