System information

System Monitoring Utilities 11
b
Shows the number of processes waiting for a resource other than a CPU. A high
number in this column may indicate an I/O problem (network or disk).
swpd
The amount of swap space (KB) currently used.
free
The amount of unused memory (KB).
inact
Recently unused memory that can be reclaimed. This column is only visible when
calling vmstat with the parameter -a (recommended).
active
Recently used memory that normally does not get reclaimed. This column is only
visible when calling vmstat with the parameter -a (recommended).
buff
File buffer cache (KB) in RAM. This column is not visible when calling vmstat
with the parameter -a (recommended).
cache
Page cache (KB) in RAM. This column is not visible when calling vmstat with
the parameter -a (recommended).
si
Amount of data (KB) that is moved from swap to RAM per second. High val-
ues over a long period of time in this column are an indication that the machine
would benefit from more RAM.
so
Amount of data (KB) that is moved from RAM to swap per second. High val-
ues over a longer period of time in this column are an indication that the machine
would benefit from more RAM.
bi
Number of blocks per second received from a block device (e.g. a disk read).
Note that swapping also impacts the values shown here.
bo
Number of blocks per second sent to a block device (e.g. a disk write). Note that
swapping also impacts the values shown here.