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Monitoring web server performance with tools like New Relic

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Comprehensive Guide for Web Developers: Monitoring Web Server Performance with New Relic on Linux Bash

In the ever-evolving landscape of web development, maintaining a robust, high-performing web server is as crucial as the development of the website itself. As a web developer or a system administrator, monitoring server health and performance not only helps in ensuring maximum uptime but also provides insights into potential areas for optimization. This guide will introduce New Relic – a powerful monitoring tool – and demonstrate how to efficiently manage and monitor web server performance using Linux Bash.

What is New Relic?

New Relic is a cloud-based observability platform that helps you to track and analyze the performance of your web applications and infrastructure. It gives you a detailed insight into everything from server response times and error rates to resource utilization, enabling proactive maintenance and performance optimization.

Why New Relic for Linux Servers?

Linux servers are widely recognized for their stability and performance in hosting web applications, but even the best systems need monitoring. New Relic provides in-depth monitoring capabilities that can help:

  • Identify slowdowns and bottlenecks in your application.

  • Monitor real user experiences and interactions.

  • Track applications across multiple environments.

  • Get alerted about issues before they affect users.

Prerequisites

Before starting with New Relic, ensure you have: 1. A Linux-based server running your web application. 2. Admin rights on the server to install packages and edit configuration files. 3. A New Relic account - you can sign up for one at New Relic's website.

Step-By-Step Guide to Set Up New Relic

Step 1: Installing New Relic's Agent

New Relic provides different agents depending on the nature of the application and the environment. For a Linux server, you generally want to install the Infrastructure agent and perhaps APM (Application Performance Monitoring) agents specific to the programming languages you use (like PHP, Python, Java).

  1. Install the Infrastructure Agent: Open your terminal and run the following commands appropriate to your distribution to add New Relic's repository and install the agent.

  • For Ubuntu (using apt): bash curl -s https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/gpg/newrelic-infra.gpg | sudo apt-key add - printf "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/linux/apt focal main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/newrelic-infra.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install newrelic-infra -y

  • For CentOS/RHEL (using dnf): bash curl -s https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/gpg/newrelic-infra.gpg | sudo gpg --import printf "[newrelic-infra]\nname=New Relic Infrastructure\nbaseurl=https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/linux/yum/el/8/x86_64\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/gpg/newrelic-infra.gpg" | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/newrelic-infra.repo sudo dnf makecache sudo dnf install newrelic-infra -y

  • For openSUSE (using zypper): bash sudo rpm --import https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/gpg/newrelic-infra.gpg sudo zypper addrepo -f -n newrelic-infra https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/linux/zypp/sle/15/x86_64 newrelic-infra sudo zypper refresh sudo zypper install newrelic-infra

  1. Configure the Agent: Edit the configuration file located at /etc/newrelic-infra.yml and set your license key:

    license_key: YOUR_NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY_HERE

  2. Start the Agent:

    sudo systemctl start newrelic-infra

Step 2: Monitoring with New Relic Dashboards

Once the agent installation is complete and running, log in to your New Relic account. You will be able to see your server listed under the "Infrastructure" section. Dive into the various metrics collected by the New Relic agent:

  • CPU usage, memory usage, and disk IO: These metrics are vital indicators of your server health.

  • Network statistics: Helps in understanding external influences on server performance.

  • Processes: View running processes and their impact on resources.

Step 3: Setting Up Alerts

Alerting is a powerful feature of New Relic. It allows you to set threshold-based alerts for any metrics that the agents collect:

  1. In your New Relic dashboard, go to the "Alerts” section.
  2. Choose to set up a new alert policy and add conditions based on the metrics you want to watch for deviations.

Step 4: Analyze and Optimize

The real power of monitoring comes into play when you utilize the data collected to optimize your server performance. Analyze patterns and spikes in the metrics dashboard to make informed decisions about code optimization, scaling resources, and improving user experiences.

Conclusion

Utilizing Linux Bash in conjunction with New Relic provides a robust foundation for monitoring and enhancing the performance of web servers. By seamlessly integrating these powerful tools into your development and maintenance workflows, you ensure that your web application is not only stable and resilient but also delivers optimal performance to your end-users. Remember, a monitored application is on the path to being a well-performing application. Happy monitoring!

Further Reading

For further exploration on the topic of server monitoring and optimizing server performance, here are several resources that can provide additional insights:

  • Real User Monitoring in New Relic: Deep dive into how to monitor real user interactions in your applications with New Relic. Available at: Real User Monitoring

  • Guide to Advanced Performance Monitoring: This guide discusses advanced techniques and metrics for performance monitoring. Read more: Advanced Monitoring Techniques

  • Optimizing Server Performance Using New Relic: Learn how to analyze and optimize server performance using New Relic's powerful analytics tools. More details here: Optimize Performance

  • Managing Linux Servers: A comprehensive guide to the basics of managing Linux servers efficiently. Access the guide at: Linux Server Management

  • Installing and Configuring Server Monitoring Tools on Linux: Step-by-step instructions on setting up various server monitoring tools on Linux environments. Check it out: Server Monitoring Setup

These resources are aimed at providing both theoretical background and practical skills necessary to effectively monitor and optimize web servers.

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