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 […]
Tuning MySQL my.cnf? Avoid this common pitfall!
It took me some time to decide on the title of this article. MariaDB has been fast replacing MySQL as many Linux distributions now default to MariaDB over MySQL. MariaDB is an enhanced drop-in replacement for MySQL. Therein lies my predominantly self-made conundrum, MySQL or MariaDB? The MySQL tuning advice below applies to MySQL, MariaDB […]
100 Top Observability Tools (+ Server Monitoring and APM solutions)
Looking for application monitoring and observability solutions? On this page, I’ve listed the top application performance monitoring (APM), infrastructure monitoring, and observability solutions to date. The listings are updated periodically as APM and observability solutions continue a rapid evolution. While I haven’t tested all of these solutions, I’ve used more than a third of them. […]
grep command in Linux w/ examples
This grep command guide is a follow-up of my previous 90 Linux Commands frequently used by Linux Sysadmins article. Every week, or as time allows, I will publish articles on around 90 commands geared toward Linux sysadmins and Linux power users. Let’s continue this series with the grep command. Grep (global regular expression printer) searches through a file for a […]
“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 […]
5 Network Devices for work-from-home and Small Business 2023
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a mass migration from the work office to the home office. This continues to increase the requirements for better home network security, capacity, and additional capabilities. Small business and work-from-home networks must be more performant, reliable, accountable, and easier to manage. As such, network devices designed for consumers […]
How to Enable Unattended Upgrades on Ubuntu/Debian
Linux server security is of critical importance to sysadmins. One central part of keeping Linux servers secure is by installing security updates promptly. Too often, there are compromised servers on the internet due to pending security updates waiting for a manual update. On both Ubuntu and Debian, the unattended-upgrades package can be configured to perform […]
Analyze Your Website’s TTFB (Time to First Byte)
Have you improved the load time of your websites and web applications recently? Or, maybe your web store or other web app is now slower to respond as you’ve added more features or due to data growth? The time it takes for your web applications to respond when users visit is more important than ever […]
90 Linux Commands frequently used by Linux Sysadmins
There are well over 100 Unix commands shared by the Linux kernel and other Unix-like operating systems. If you are interested in the commands frequently used by Linux sysadmins and power users, you’ve come to the place. Recently, I published a five-part series covering commands often used by Linux sysadmins. Below I’ve listed the 90 […]
What CentOS alternative distro should you choose?
In January 2014, CentOS announced it was officially joining Red Hat while staying independent from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) under a new CentOS governing board. However, in December 2020, Red Hat requisitioned that CentOS terminate the development of CentOS 8. They also announced that support would be shifting to a CentOS alternative rolling-release Linux […]