Linux VPS Server Load Question

I'm hosting some sites on a Linux VPS - it's not a managed server. To be honest, I haven't got any server side experience and the 'support' for the VPS is limited and not very helpful.

The server is currently running at around 70% System Usage according to Virtuozzo and I keep getting QoS alerts (privvmpages). There is little traffic running through the VPS so this suggests to me that there is a problem.

The 'support' team tell me that I can check what is running on the VPS using SSH but I have no idea what to look for or how to look for it.

Can anyone give me some advice on this?

Cheers,

MB

 

To verify what is going on on server you should use shell commands :

ps -aux ( will show you all processes and owners )
top ( will show you cpu and memory usage total and by each process )

 

What control panel are you using? Have you tweak Apache & MySQL?

 

If you are getting QoS alerts (privvmpages) then it means that your vps is running out of memory. If you have cpanel/WHM on your vps then with the help of WHM you can check apache status, MySQL usage etc.
WHM >> Server Status >> Apache Status
WHM >> Server Status >> CPU/Memory/MySQL Usage
Try optimizing the big data bases and my.cnf in such a way that the sleep process will not be run for the long time

 

I'm using Virtuozzo

 

That is just a VPS control panel not what we are talking about "cPanel"

 

OK well given that's what I'm using, I don't know quite how your response will help. As I said, I'm a server novice. As I understood it, cPanel is another control panel on the server in the same way that Virtuozzo is.

 

Login to your console and type this.

top -c (press CTRL+M)

Code (markup):

Look what is taking up the resource.

If not, I seriously advice you to get someone to login to your box to optimize the server.

 

How much traffic are you getting on those sites? It sounds like your Apache instances could be really hindering your machine. So you might have to consider modifying the LoadModules that you have installed. This could help reduce some of the load because those modules are taking too much memory.

 

The traffic load is minimal - 350-500MB per day on the box. What is LoadModules and is it something that can be installed on a VPS without invalidating what little support I already get?

Cheers,

Mike

 

Note to anybody in the future who reads this thread and is considering getting a vps without knowing how to manage one . . . buy the managed plan.

I am with slhost and my server was burning up resources all the time. They got out the special prvimages screwdriver and did something to make it quit acting up.

Do yourself a favor and find someone who you trust and pay them to monkey around with the httpd and apache stuff (whatever they are).

This will not go away without some expert level help.

 

Carl - very valid point! It's something I've learnt the hard way. I just wish I had one of those special privvmpages screwdrivers

 

Why not try my DIY VPS Optimization Guide ?

 

Thanks for that - I'll have a look through it. It still looks double Dutch to me but I'll give it a whirl!