This guide explains how to display and interpret monitoring data (network statistics, CPU, RAM, etc.) of a Cloud Server.

Monitor the activity of a Managed Cloud Server

To access monitoring

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the product concerned.
3. Click on Monitoring in the left sidebar

Different data is available to monitor the activity of your Cloud Servers, including:

• incoming and outgoing traffic (network)
• the average system load (load average)
• the average CPU load
• the amount of RAM used
• disk space used
• the number of hits / sec.
• the average number of MySQL queries made

Interpreting the statistics

By interpreting the monitoring of the resources of a Cloud Server, you can estimate the resources (power) you need to run your websites and web applications.

Total system load

The total system load summarizes in percentage the level of use of the virtual processors. In this example, the server therefore uses less than 10% of its resources (0.10).

Processor (CPU) and memory (RAM)

These graphs show that less than 10% of the virtual processors are used and that less than 3 GB of RAM are actually used. In this example, the configuration of this server is therefore oversized compared to actual needs.

High cached memory

High cache memory on a server is not abnormal and is often beneficial in many cases. Here's why:

1. Caching for improved performance: Modern operating systems, such as Linux, use free memory to cache data from the disk to improve performance. When you access files or applications, the system can quickly retrieve the data from the cache instead of reading it from slower storage devices, such as hard drives. This helps to reduce the overall response time of your server and can significantly improve performance.
2. Efficient memory usage: High memory usage due to caching means that your server is efficiently using the available memory. Unused memory is wasted memory. Therefore, as long as the memory is being used for useful purposes like caching, it is a positive sign.
3. Automatic memory management: Operating systems are designed to automatically adjust the size of the cache based on the needs of the running applications. If an application needs more memory, the cache can reduce its size to accommodate it. This dynamic memory management ensures a balance between caching and serving active applications.
4. Monitoring perspective: From a monitoring perspective, seeing high memory usage due to caching can initially raise concerns, but it is essential to interpret the metrics in the context of your server's behavior. If you observe good performance and notice no signs of memory-related issues, such as swapping or application crashes, the high cache usage is likely expected and beneficial.

In summary, high cache memory on a server is normal and can contribute to improving the overall system performance. Do not worry if you observe significant cache memory usage, as long as your server is functioning correctly and without obvious memory-related issues. Caching is an essential tool for optimizing performance and making the most of available resources.