Server Performance Monitoring System

Overview

This project provides a comprehensive server performance monitoring solution that collects and displays real-time system statistics. The system is designed to help system administrators and DevOps engineers monitor server health, resource utilization, and identify potential performance bottlenecks.

Features

• Real-time CPU Usage Monitoring - Tracks current CPU utilization percentage
• Memory Usage Analysis - Shows used and free memory with percentage breakdown
• Disk Space Monitoring - Displays total disk usage across all mounted filesystems
• Process Analysis - Lists top 5 processes by CPU and memory consumption
• System Uptime Tracking - Shows how long the server has been running
• Load Average Monitoring - Displays system load metrics
• User Session Tracking - Lists currently logged-in users
• Security Monitoring - Counts failed login attempts for security analysis
• OS Information - Displays current operating system version

Files Structure

server-performance-monitoring/
├── server-stats.sh          # Main monitoring script
├── server perfomance set report.pdf  # Performance analysis report
└── README.md               # Project documentation

Prerequisites

• Linux-based operating system (Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, etc.)
• Bash shell environment
• Standard Linux utilities: top, free, df, ps, uptime, who, grep
• Read access to /var/log/auth.log for security monitoring

Installation & Setup

1. Clone or download the project files

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd server-performance-monitoring

2. Make the script executable

   chmod +x server-stats.sh

3. Verify prerequisites

   which top free df ps uptime who grep

Usage

Basic Execution

./server-stats.sh

Sample Output

===== Server Performance Stats =====
CPU Usage:
15.2%

Memory Usage:
Used: 2048MB (25.60%) | Free: 5952MB (74.40%)

Disk Usage:
Used: 45G | Free: 210G | Usage: 18%

Top 5 Processes by CPU:
  PID COMMAND         %CPU
 1234 firefox         12.5
 5678 chrome          8.3
 9012 node            3.2

Top 5 Processes by Memory:
  PID COMMAND         %MEM
 1234 firefox         15.2
 5678 mysql           12.8
 9012 apache2         8.5

Uptime:
up 2 days, 14 hours, 23 minutes

OS Version:
Description: Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS

Load Average:
 0.85, 1.02, 0.95

Logged in Users:
user1    pts/0    2023-10-15 09:30
admin    pts/1    2023-10-15 10:15

Failed Login Attempts:
23

Monitoring Metrics Explained

CPU Usage

• Shows percentage of CPU currently being utilized
• Combines user and system CPU time

Memory Usage

• Used: Currently allocated memory
• Free: Available memory for new processes
• Percentages help identify memory pressure

Disk Usage

• Shows total disk space utilization across all filesystems
• Helps prevent disk space exhaustion

Process Information

• CPU Top 5: Processes consuming most CPU resources
• Memory Top 5: Processes using most RAM
• Useful for identifying resource-intensive applications

System Metrics

• Uptime: Server stability indicator
• Load Average: System load over 1, 5, and 15-minute intervals
• OS Version: System identification

Security Monitoring

• Logged Users: Current active sessions
• Failed Logins: Security breach attempts indicator

Automation Options

Cron Job Setup

Run monitoring every 5 minutes:

# Add to crontab
*/5 * * * * /path/to/server-stats.sh >> /var/log/server-performance.log 2>&1

Continuous Monitoring

# Run every 30 seconds
watch -n 30 ./server-stats.sh

Customization

Adding New Metrics

You can extend the script by adding:

• Network statistics (netstat, ss)
• Service status checks (systemctl status)
• Temperature monitoring (sensors)
• Custom application metrics

Output Formatting

• Modify output format for integration with monitoring tools
• Add JSON output option for API consumption
• Include timestamps for log analysis

Use Cases

• System Administration: Regular server health checks
• DevOps Monitoring: Automated performance tracking
• Troubleshooting: Quick system overview during issues
• Capacity Planning: Historical resource usage analysis
• Security Auditing: Failed login attempt monitoring

Technical Skills Demonstrated

• Bash Scripting: Advanced shell scripting techniques
• Linux System Administration: Deep understanding of system utilities
• Performance Monitoring: Knowledge of key system metrics
• Security Awareness: Implementation of security monitoring
• Documentation: Professional project documentation
• Automation: Script designed for automated execution

Future Enhancements

• Add historical data storage (database integration)
• Create web dashboard for visualization
• Implement alerting system for threshold breaches
• Add remote monitoring capabilities
• Include network performance metrics
• Docker containerization support

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Permission Denied on /var/log/auth.log

# Run with appropriate privileges or modify the path
sudo ./server-stats.sh

Command Not Found Errors

# Install missing utilities (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install procps util-linux coreutils

Script Not Executable

chmod +x server-stats.sh

Performance Impact

This monitoring script is designed to be lightweight:

• Minimal CPU overhead (< 1% during execution)
• No persistent background processes
• Quick execution time (typically < 2 seconds)
• Safe for production environments

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Note: This monitoring solution demonstrates practical Linux administration skills, bash scripting proficiency, and understanding of system performance metrics essential for DevOps and system administration roles.