Linux System Reliability & Tuning

Five lessons covering what it actually takes to keep Linux systems stable under load: understanding availability as a discipline, diagnosing and fixing memory and swap problems, controlling process resource usage, identifying I/O bottlenecks, and building the observability that lets you act before the system fails rather than after.

Lessons

  1. The CIA Triad & Availability

    The leg everyone neglects until production goes down at 3am.

    intermediate

  2. Memory Management & Swap

    Swap is not extra RAM. It is the last line before the OOM killer.

    intermediate

  3. Process Management & Resource Limits

    Ulimits, cgroups, and the difference between a watchdog and a prayer.

    intermediate

  4. Storage & I/O Performance

    iowait is a symptom. Knowing what it's a symptom of is the job.

    intermediate

  5. Observability & Proactive Tuning

    The system will always tell you it's dying. The question is whether you're listening.

    intermediate