Causes of high load on the virtual server

Virtual server load is not a new problem. If a server cannot handle current loads, it can lead to a number of negative consequences and make it difficult to add new features or scale the system to support growth. To minimize these risks, it's important to monitor server health, optimize code and application architecture, and schedule resources according to expected loads.

What high server load means

Due to excessive load growth, a virtual server may start to "choke". As a result, there will be delays in server operation, and the loading speed of website pages will drop dramatically. Simply put, high server load means that the server is experiencing a significant number of requests or performing a lot of operations, which can cause it to slow down or even crash.

This condition is usually measured using various metrics such as:

1. CPU (Central Processing Unit). A high CPU utilization may indicate that the server is processing many tasks simultaneously or performing resource-intensive operations.
2. RAM (RAM). If a large portion of the available RAM is being used, it can cause the server to slow down because the system may start using a swap file on disk, which is much slower.
3. Disk load. High disk read/write activity can slow down the server, especially if mechanical hard disks are used.
4. Network traffic. If a server is handling a large amount of incoming or outgoing data, it can cause network congestion.
5. Number of processes. If a server has too many processes running at the same time, it can cause it to run out of resources and slow down.

When the load becomes too high, it can manifest itself as slow response times, connection errors, application hangs, or even complete unavailability of service. High load can be caused by a variety of factors including increased traffic, code issues, attacks, and other reasons.

Common causes of high load on a VPS

High load on a VPS (Virtual Private Server) or VDS (Virtual Dedicated Server) can be caused by various factors. Here are some of the most common reasons:

1. An increase in the number of visitors to a website or application can cause high load on the server.
2. Poorly written scripts, inefficient database queries, or the use of outdated libraries can slow things down significantly.
3. If background tasks (e.g. backups, data processing) are running on the server, this can consume resources.
4. If the VPS/VDS has insufficient RAM or CPU power to handle the current tasks, this can lead to overloading.
5. DDoS attacks or malware can cause high load by sending a large number of requests to the server.
6. Misconfigurations of the web server, database or other services can cause inefficient operation.
7. Unupdated systems and applications can contain vulnerabilities and run less efficiently.
8. If there are too many applications or processes running on the server at the same time, it can lead to resource exhaustion.

Various monitoring tools such as top, htop, iostat, or specialized performance monitoring solutions can be used to diagnose the problem.

Server performance monitoring

Server performance monitoring is the process of collecting, analyzing, and evaluating various metrics related to the performance of servers and the applications that are hosted on them. The purpose of monitoring is to ensure that servers are running consistently and efficiently, and to identify and fix problems before they affect users or business processes.

Key aspects of server performance monitoring

Performance metrics:

• CPU utilization (CPU): measures how busy the processor is, which helps identify bottlenecks in computing resources;
• Memory utilization (RAM): shows how much RAM is being used and how much is available;
• Disk: monitors read and write speeds, disk space utilization, and disk status;
• network: monitor bandwidth, latency, and packet loss on the network.

Logs

Analyze server logs to identify errors, warnings, and other significant events that may indicate performance issues.

Availability Level

Monitor uptime and availability of servers and applications.

Trend Analysis

Compare current performance with historical data to identify long-term trends and plan resources.

Notifications and alerts

Set up notification systems to inform administrators when performance issues or critical thresholds are reached.

Monitoring tools

Using specialized software solutions to automate the monitoring process (e.g. Nagios, Zabbix, Prometheus, Grafana).

Why do I need server performance monitoring?

1. Allows you to proactively identify potential problems and fix them before they affect users
2. Helps to efficiently utilize server resources, which can reduce hosting costs and improve performance.
3. Ensures stable performance of applications and services, which helps improve user experience.
4. Provides data to analyze and plan for future upgrades and infrastructure scaling.

Server performance monitoring is an important part of IT infrastructure management and helps ensure that systems are reliable and efficient.