[Techtalk] memory used on ubuntu server

[Anne Wainwright]

Hi, all.

A small note of warning.

I was surprised to find my complacency shaken when checking my
server for anything likely to cause hassles when passing emails with
larger than usual attachments through the Mailman server. Things didn't
seem to happen with the usual zip.

When I log into the server there is a small screen of information
presented. I paste the relevant info below.

------------------------------
  System load:  0.02              Temperature:         27 C
  Usage of /:   9.7% of 17.65GB   Processes:           110
  Memory usage: 36%               Users logged in:     1
  Swap usage:   1%                IP address for eth0: 192.168.0.16
------------------------------

Daily inspection of this message caused me to think that all was well.
On the contrary. The percentage in question is of the RAM plus swap plus
buffer as investigation with 'free' revealed. It was not the percentage
of the installed RAM as I imagined.

BTW, I am not sure that the -o switch of 'free' does the claimed
calculation described in the man pages. Any comment?

best wishes
Anne