Operating System and Process Monitoring Tools
Arik Brooks, awb1@wustl.edu
Abstract:
Monitoring the performance of operating systems and processes is essential to debug processes and systems, effectively manage system resources, making system decisions, and evaluating and examining systems. These tools are primarily divided into two main categories: real time and log-based. Real time monitoring tools are concerned with measuring the current system state and provide up to date information about the system performance. Log-based monitoring tools record system performance information for post-processing and analysis and to find trends in the system performance. This paper presents a survey of the most commonly used tools for monitoring operating system and process performance in Windows- and Unix-based systems and describes the unique challenges of real time and log-based performance monitoring.
Table of Contents:
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Real Time Performance Monitoring Tools
- 2.1 Windows-Based Tools
- 2.1.1 Task Manager (taskmgr)
- 2.1.2 Performance Monitor (perfmon)
- 2.1.3 Process Monitor (pmon)
- 2.1.4 Process Explode (pview)
- 2.1.5 Process Viewer (pviewer)
- 2.2 Unix-Based Tools
- 2.2.1 Process Status (ps)
- 2.2.2 Top
- 2.2.3 Xosview
- 2.2.4 Treeps
- 2.3 Summary of Real Time Monitoring Tools
- 3. Log-Based Performance Monitoring Tools
- 3.1 Windows-Based Tools
- 3.1.1 Event Log Service and Event Viewer
- 3.1.2 Performance Logs and Alerts
- 3.1.3 Performance Data Log Service
- 3.2 Unix-Based Tools
- 3.2.1 System Activity Reporter (sar)
- 3.2.2 Cpustat
- 3.3 Summary of Log-Based Monitoring Tools
- 4. Summary
- References
- List of Acronyms/Abbreviations
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