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For system administrators and performance enthusiasts, monitoring disk I/O is a critical task in optimizing system performance and troubleshooting slowdowns. One of the most powerful tools for this purpose in the Linux environment is iotop. This handy utility provides real-time insight into disk usage by processes, helping you pinpoint what's causing the disk to overwork. In this article, we'll explore what iotop is, how to install it, and how to use it effectively. iotop or Input/Output Top is a Python-based tool that displays a detailed list of disk I/O utilization by processes. It operates in a similar manner to the top command but focuses specifically on disk operations. This makes iotop invaluable for diagnosing I/O performance issues.