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system monitor

{{For|the system monitor included in Microsoft Windows|Performance Monitor}}

{{Short description|Component that monitors resources in a computer system}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}

File:Example of a software system monitor.png usage]]

A system monitor is a hardware or software component used to monitor system resources and performance in a computer system.{{cite web

|url=https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-system-monitor.htm

|title=What Is a System Monitor?

|access-date=23 November 2018

|author1=G. Wiesen |author2=Heather Bailey

|date=1 December 2010 |website = wiseGEEK

|quote=A system monitor is a program or piece of hardware that monitors various aspects of a computer system and then displays information regarding the status of that system. This sort of monitor typically takes the form of a software program provided with an operating system (OS) or used as a standalone program. Hardware system monitors are also available, though these are fairly specialized devices and not as frequently used as software monitors. A system monitor will typically track various aspects of a computer system, including what programs are running, how resources are being used, and certain details regarding the hardware installed on a computer.

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207054610/https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-system-monitor.htm

|archive-date=7 December 2010}}

Among the management issues regarding use of system monitoring tools are resource usage and privacy. Monitoring can track both input and output values and events of systems.{{cite web |title=Consistently-Detecting Monitors |url=https://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2017/7772/pdf/LIPIcs-CONCUR-2017-8.pdf |publisher=University of Malta}}

Overview

Software monitors occur more commonly, sometimes as a part of a widget engine. These monitoring systems are often used to keep track of system resources, such as CPU usage and frequency, or the amount of free RAM. They are also used to display items such as free space on one or more hard drives, the temperature of the CPU and other important components,{{ cite web | url = http://kaskavalci.com/installing-system-monitor-conky-on-ubuntu/

|title=Installing system monitor conky on Ubuntu

|access-date=23 November 2018 |author=Halil Kaskavalci |date=22 October 2015

|quote=What is a System Monitor? System monitors show various system indicators like HDD, Network, and CPU usage. If you want to learn more about your computer, it's a must have tool. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151022171051/http://kaskavalci.com/installing-system-monitor-conky-on-ubuntu/ | archive-date = 22 October 2015 }} and networking information including the system IP address and current rates of upload and download. Other possible displays may include the date and time, system uptime, computer name, username, hard drive S.M.A.R.T. data, fan speeds, and the voltages being provided by the power supply.

Less common are hardware-based systems monitoring similar information. Customarily these occupy one or more drive bays on the front of the computer case, and either interface directly with the system hardware or connect to a software data-collection system via USB. With either approach to gathering data, the monitoring system displays information on a small LCD panel or on series of small analog or LED numeric displays. Some hardware-based system monitors also allow direct control of fan speeds, allowing the user to quickly customize the cooling in the system.

The primary function of a few very high-end models of hardware system monitor is to interface with only a specific model of motherboard. These systems directly utilize the sensors built into the system, providing more detailed and accurate information than less-expensive monitoring systems customarily provide.

Software monitoring

Software monitoring tools operate{{cite web

|url=https://linuxsecurity.com/content/view/155986

|title=The Best System Monitor for Linux

|website=LinuxSecurity}} within the device they're monitoring.{{cite news

|newspaper=The New York Times

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/technology/personaltech/unseen-burdens-in-chrome-that-can-lead-a-mac-to-lag.html

|title=Unseen Burdens in Chrome That Can Lead a Mac to Lag

|quote=opened the OS X system monitor to see what was going on

|author=J. D. Biersdorfer |date=22 August 2015 |access-date=28 June 2019}}

Hardware monitoring

Unlike software monitoring tools, hardware measurement tools can either located within the device being measure, or they can be attached and operate from an external location.{{cite book

|title=Computer Performance Measurement and Evaluation Methods

|url=https://archive.org/details/computerperforma0000svob

|url-access=registration

|author1=Liba Svobodova |author2=Edward J. McCluskey

|year=1976 |publisher=Elsevier

|isbn=0-444-00197-2}}{{rp|p.84}}

A hardware monitor is a common component of modern motherboards, which can either come as a separate chip, often interfaced through I2C or SMBus, or as part of a Super I/O solution, often interfaced through Low Pin Count (LPC). These devices make it possible to monitor temperature in the chassis, voltage supplied to the motherboard by the power supply unit and the speed of the computer fans that are connected directly to one of the fan headers on the motherboard. Many of these hardware monitors also have fan controlling capabilities. System monitoring software like SpeedFan on Windows, lm_sensors on Linux, envstat on NetBSD, and sysctl hw.sensors on OpenBSD and DragonFly can interface with these chips to relay this environmental sensor information to the user.

Privacy

When an individual user is measuring the performance of a single-user system, whether it is a standalone box or a virtual machine on a multi-user system, access does not impede the privacy of others.{{rp|p.114}} Privacy becomes an issue when someone other than the end-user, such as a system manager,{{rp|p.115}} has legitimate need to access data about other users.

Resource usage

When events occur faster than a monitor can record them, a workaround is needed, such as replacing event recording with simple counting.{{rp|p.89}}

Another consideration is not having major impact on the CPU and storage available for useful work. While a hardware monitor will usually have less impact than a software monitor, there are data items, such as "some descriptive information, such as program names"{{rp|p.91}} that must involve software.

A further consideration is that a bug in this domain can have severe impact: an extreme case would "cause the OS to crash".{{cite news |newspaper=Computerworld

|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/3144013/overtime-will-never-be-this-much-fun-again.html

|title=Overtime will never be this much fun again

|date=November 24, 2016}}

List of software monitors

Single system:

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}

|degree= MMath

|author= Constantine A. Murenin |date= 2010-05-21

|title= OpenBSD Hardware Sensors — Environmental Monitoring and Fan Control.

|location= University of Waterloo |publisher= UWSpace

|url = http://cnst.su/MMathCS |hdl = 10012/5234

|id = Document ID: ab71498b6b1a60ff817b29d56997a418.

}}

{{Div col end}}

Distributed:

{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}

{{Div col end}}

See also

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{Cite conference

|author= Constantine A. Murenin

|date= 2007-04-17

|url = http://sensors.cnst.su/IEEE_ICNSC_2007

|title= Generalised Interfacing with Microprocessor System Hardware Monitors

|conference= Proceedings of 2007 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control, 15–17 April 2007.

|location= London, United Kingdom

|publisher=IEEE

|doi = 10.1109/ICNSC.2007.372901

|isbn = 978-1-4244-1076-7

|id = IEEE ICNSC 2007, pp. 901—906.

}}

}}

External links

  • [http://news.softpedia.com/news/Monitoring-a-Linux-System-With-X11-Console-Web-Based-Tools-51678.shtml Monitoring a Linux System with X11/Console/Web-Based Tools]

Category:Computer peripherals

Category:Liquid crystal displays

Category:System administration

Category:Utility software types