Chapter 6. Memory

In this chapter we discuss the major tools used for memory analysis. We detail the methodology behind the use of the tools and the interpretation of the metrics.

Tools for Memory Analysis

Different tools are used for different kinds of memory analyses. Following is a prioritized list of tools for analyzing the various types of problems:

  • Quick memory health check. First measure the amount of free memory with the vmstat command. Then examine the sr column of the vmstat output to check whether the system is scanning. If the system is short of memory, you can obtain high-level usage details with the MDB ::memstat-d command.

  • Paging activity. If the system is scanning, use the -p option of vmstat to see the types of paging. You would typically ...

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